Department for Transport

Sea Level

Andy McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to page 23 of the report of the Committee on Climate Change entitled Managing the coast in a changing climate, published in October 2018, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of that report's conclusions on expected sea level change; and what assessment he has made of the potential effect of such sea level changes on (a) roads and (b) railways.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: The Department for Transport (DfT) works closely with its operators and the wider sector on climate change risk assessment, mitigation and resilience, including from flooding and coastal change. The UK Climate Change Risk Assessment 2017 outlines the UK’s and Devolved Government’s views on climate change risks and the National Adaption Programme published in July sets out Government’s adaption measures, including for roads and railways. Network Rail continue to implement resilience measures to protect the railway and surrounding areas where sea level rise and increased flooding is anticipated. A project to enhance our understanding of asset criticality and the vulnerability of rail infrastructure to sea level rise is being developed to support this work. Highways England (HE) continue to embed resilience measures across its activities to maintain a fit for purpose Strategic Road Network. This includes consideration of coastal flooding and erosion risks as part of their Flood Risk Strategy and future planning to the road network.

Shipping: Minimum Wage

Mr Alistair Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 16 October 2018 to Question 177630 on Shipping: Minimum wage, when the meeting with the responsible Minister in the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy took place; what progress has been made in discussions between officials in his Department and their counterparts in BEIS; and on what date he plans to formally publish the recommendations of the legal working group.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: The Department engages regularly with other government departments on the introduction of national minimum wage for seafarers. I will be meeting the responsible Minister in the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy shortly.

Fuels: Palm Oil

Patrick Grady: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of the EU decision to phase out the use of palm oil in transport fuels by 2030.

Jesse Norman: The revised Renewable Energy Directive includes a provision restricting biofuels with a high risk of causing indirect land use change (ILUC) from counting towards EU renewable energy targets. Details of the provision are to be determined by the Commission in a delegated Act by February 2019. The Government’s position is that all biofuels should deliver genuine greenhouse gas savings compared to fossil fuels. In the UK we ensure that measures to promote a market for biofuels, including rewards provided through the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO), avoid supporting biofuels with high ILUC impacts. The latest verified data for 2016/17 shows the average greenhouse savings of biofuels supplied under the RTFO is 71% compared to fossil fuels, even when emissions from indirect land use change are taken into account.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

Chemicals: Energy

Judith Cummins: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the effect of volatility in energy prices on the financial sustainability of the UK chemical industry.

Richard Harrington: The Department has not made such an assessment. Industrial energy prices and statistics are published quarterly by BEIS, most recently in September this year and calculations on volatility can be carried out on them. However energy prices and pricing arrangements paid by businesses in the UK chemical industry are laid out in contracts that are subject to commercial confidentiality. Moreover chemical businesses, like others, can hedge against volatility in energy costs. The Department has not asked chemical industry businesses to provide these details about its contracts or hedging activity.

Housing: Energy

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what information he holds on local authority spending plans to increase the energy efficiency of houses over the next (a) five and (b) 10 years.

Claire Perry: The Home Energy Conservation Act 1995 (HECA) requires local authorities to prepare and publish reports every two years on their plans to achieve improved energy efficiency in their areas. These are not spending plans, but contain actions, policies, initiatives, grants, match funding and other measures offered in the local authority that encourage home energy efficiency improvements and tackle fuel poverty. Local authorities were last required to report in 2017, and their full reports are available on their websites. The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy will be issuing guidance to local authorities on the content of their 2019 reports shortly. Under the Energy Company Obligation local authorities are able to refer low income and vulnerable households for receipt of energy efficiency measures under ‘flexible eligibility’. Obligated energy suppliers can deliver up to 25% of their obligation by installing measures under this mechanism, which could be worth around £560m between now and March 2022.

Carbon Capture and Storage

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to the IPCC's report of October 2018 entitled Global Warming of 1.5°C, what plans his Department has to (a) encourage and (b) implement the use of (i) carbon capture and (ii) carbon removal technologies.

Claire Perry: The Government is committed to supporting the development of carbon capture usage & storage (CCUS) in the UK and has set an ambition for the UK to have the option to deploy CCUS at scale during the 2030s, subject to the costs coming down sufficiently. To support this ambition, we are investing £100 million to March 2021 on industrial energy and CCUS innovation and will publish a CCUS Action Plan to set out the next steps in progressing CCUS in the UK.The Government’s strategic approach to greenhouse gas removals (GGRs), as set out in the Clean Growth Strategy, has two main elements. Firstly, a Government programme of research and development, which includes working with the Research Councils on a £8.6 million GGR research programme launched in April 2017. We also invited the Royal Society and Royal Academy of Engineering to undertake a review of the science relating to GGRs; this was published in September 2018. Secondly, work to consider the scope for removing barriers and strengthening incentives to support the deployment of GGRs, to position the UK at the leading edge of GGR development. In addition, we will develop a new network of English forests to help reach 12 per cent woodland cover in England by 2060.

Energy: Housing

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how much funding from the EU is proposed to be allocated to (a) improve the energy efficiency of the housing stock and (b) to reduce fuel poverty in England in the next (i) five years and (ii) ten years; and whether that funding from the EU will still be available in the event that the UK leaves the EU.

Claire Perry: Under the EU’s 2014-2020 Multiannual Financial Framework there are several funding streams that bodies within England may bid for to help them address fuel poverty and the energy efficiency of the housing stock, such as the European Regional Development Fund and Horizon 2020. However, this funding is not automatically allocated and must be successfully applied for by interested entities, and is not specifically ringfenced for energy efficiency or fuel poverty. The precise amount of EU funding allocated to address these issues therefore varies year-on-year. Given this variability, it is not possible to confirm what EU funding could be allocated in future years. In December 2017 the UK Government secured the agreement of the EU to continue providing funding until the current programmes end in 2020, and also undertook to underwrite current EU commitments. As such, any existing contracts will be honoured by either the UK Government or the EU until 2020. Following our departure from the EU we will create the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF), a domestic investment programme aimed at tackling inter-community inequality. We will be consulting on the UKSPF's design later this year, with the final decisions on its detail and operation being made following the 2019 Spending Review.

Energy: Climate Change

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department has made of the implications for his policies on (a) green energy subsidies and (b) taxes on fossil fuel emissions of the findings of the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's special report, Global warming of 1.5 degrees, published in October 2018.

Claire Perry: Just one week after the publication of the IPCC’s Special Report on global warming of 1.5 degrees, we commissioned the advice of the independent Committee on Climate Change on the implications of the Paris Agreement on our long-term target. As part of this, we have requested that they provide advice on our policies to support our transition to a low carbon economy. We look forward to receiving their advice in Spring 2019, and will consider their recommendations carefully.

Innovate UK: Northern Ireland

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what technology and innovation projects have been supported by Innovate UK in Northern Ireland in the last two years.

Mr Sam Gyimah: Innovate UK have supported a range of pioneering technology and innovation projects across Northern Ireland over the last two years, covering areas such as digital health technology and neurotechnology.

Offshore Industry: Climate Change

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 15 November 2018 to Question 186941 on Offshore Industry: Oil, and with reference to the October 2018 IPCC report recommendations on the reduction in emissions required by 2030, what his Department's definition is of the time frame medium term.

Claire Perry: We need to ensure we have a balanced energy mix, so we have a reliable, clean and affordable energy system as we continue to move to a low carbon economy. There will be an ongoing role for some fossil fuels during this transition. While there is a wide range of possible pathways to meet our emission reduction targets, we expect some fossil fuels to play an important ongoing role in the coming decades when combined with Carbon Capture, Usage and Storage.

Carbon Budgets: Climate Change

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 15 November 2018 to Question 189542, on Carbon Budgets: Climate Change, and with reference to the Committee on Climate Change’s assessment of the cost-effectiveness of the UK’s decarbonisation pathway, whether it is mandatory that the committee includes an assessment of the costs incurred by continued high carbon emissions.

Claire Perry: We have asked the Committee on Climate Change to consider the costs and benefits associated with the range of possible scenarios they recommend and to provide a comparison with the costs and benefits of meeting our current long-term target. When assessing costs, consideration will be given to the impacts, both positive and negative, of innovation and global deployment of technologies. The assessment of benefits will take into account costs avoided.

Renewable Heat Incentive Scheme: Air Pollution

Graham Stringer: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how much (a) PM2.5, (b) ammonia, (c) nitrogen oxides, (d) sulphur dioxide, (e) benzene, (f) formaldhyde, (g) acrolein and (h) polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons is emitted annually by sources supported financially by the (i) domestic and (ii) non-domestic Renewable Heat Incentive.

Claire Perry: Government recognises the scale of the challenge on national air quality. That’s why DEFRA will be publishing a Clean Air Strategy in 2018. The Government’s long-term strategy is to see households move away from polluting fuels towards cleaner technologies. Technologies supported by the Renewable Heat Incentive must meet strict air quality rules. Biomass boilers are likely to replace oil boilers, reducing pollutants overall as a result. Work is ongoing to assess the air quality impact of the RHI scheme, and this will feed into future policymaking.

Renewable Heat Incentive Scheme: Air Pollution

Graham Stringer: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent assessment he has made of the effect of the use of biomass boilers supported financially by the (a) domestic and (b) non-domestic renewable heat incentive on (i) air quality and (ii) levels of (A) particulate emissions, (B) morbidity and (C) mortality.

Graham Stringer: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent assessment he has made of the effect of the use of biomass boilers supported financially by the (a) domestic and (b) non-domestic renewable heat incentive on (i) air quality and (ii) levels of (A) morbidity and (B) mortality in (1) urban and (2) rural areas.

Claire Perry: Biomass Boilers supported under the RHI scheme must meet strict air quality and feedstock sustainability rules. The air quality requirements ensure applicants for both RHI schemes with a biomass boiler (including CHP) will need to have emissions levels no higher than 30 grams per gigajoule (g/GJ) net heat input for particulate matter (PM) and 150g/GJ for oxides of nitrogen (NOx), which are the two main pollutants. Currently no data is available on levels of morbidity and mortality.We are currently consulting on making new biomass installations in urban areas ineligible for the RHI. The consultation also contains an assessment of the impacts of this policy change. For more information please visit: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/renewable-heat-incentive-biomass-combustion-in-urban-areas

Offshore Industry: Oil

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 19 November to Question 191275 on Offshore Industry: Carbon Emissions, if he will assess the (a) compatibility of the Oil and Gas Authority's remit to maximise the economic recovery of petroleum from the UK continental shelf with the UK’s decarbonisation commitments as a signatory to the Paris agreement and (b) potential merits of changing that remit to support the winding down of the petroleum industry over the next 30 years.

Claire Perry: Maximising Economic Recovery (MER UK) contributes to the UK’s diverse energy mix, which is necessary as this country moves towards a low carbon economy. Projections in like with CC advice show that oil and gas will remain an important component of the UK’s energy mix until 2035 and beyond. It is important that the OGA continues with the objective of MER UK to help fulfil ongoing UK energy demand needs. The UK remains committed to the Paris Agreement and we are leading the world in our response to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s special report on global warming of 1.5°C– commissioning the Committee on Climate Change (CCC) for their advice on the implications of the Paris Agreement for the UK’s long-term emissions reduction targets, just one week after its publication. As part of this, we have requested that they provide evidence on how reductions in line with the CCC’s recommendations might be delivered in key sectors of the economy and we will consider their advice carefully when it is received.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy: Public Consultation

Rebecca Long Bailey: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the timetable is for the Government’s response to its consultations on (a) Employment status (b) Increasing transparency in the labour market (c) Agency workers and (d) Enforcement of employment rights.

Kelly Tolhurst: The Government has received over 400 detailed responses to the four consultations. We are very grateful to everyone who took the time to respond. Their insights have been invaluable in informing our policy development. We will be publishing our response to these consultations in due course.

Renewable Energy: Feed-in Tariffs

Jeff Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether he is taking steps to ensure that generating stations which qualify for Feed-in-Tariffs continue to receive equipment breakdown support after the closure of the scheme in April 2019.

Claire Perry: The consultation on the Feed-In Tariffs scheme, which closed on 13 September, requested evidence on likely replacement rates and any efficiency gains, in order to better understand the budgetary impact of any proposals to allow generators to replace any element of their plant and retain their current tariff, before we decide whether to consult further on this issue. We will publish a government response in due course.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Libya: Constitutions

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what estimate he has made of the timescale for a national referendum on the draft constitution for Libya following the passage of legislation to facilitate such a referendum by the House of Representatives on 24 September 2018.

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for the timing of a national referendum on the draft constitution for Libya of legal disputes regarding legislation passed by the House of Representatives on 24 September 2018 to facilitate such a referendum.

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what information his Department holds on whether legislation passed by the Libyan House of Representatives on 24 September 2018 to facilitate a referendum on that country's draft constitution was approved in a vote of that House or a collection of members' signatures.

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what information his Department holds on whether the High National Election Commission of Libya has received legislation passed by the House of Representatives on 24 September 2018 to facilitate a referendum on that country's draft constitution.

Alistair Burt: It is important that a constitutional referendum enjoys widespread political support across Libya, as well as a sound legal basis. It is for the relevant Libyan authorities to determine the legitimacy of any legislative votes, according to Libyan law. From our diplomatic engagement with Libyan institutions, we are unaware of approved legislation to prepare for a referendum having been formally passed to the High National Electoral Commission. Agreement on a way forward on Libya's Constitution is a key element of the UN Action Plan for Libya, and will be one of the issues we expect to be discussed by the National Conference UN Special Representative Ghassan Salamé intends to convene in Libya in early 2019.

Kyrgyzstan: Religious Freedom

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make representations to the Kyrgyzstan authorities on ensuring the promotion of freedom of religion by that country's State Commission for Religious Affairs.

Sir Alan Duncan: We engage with the Kyrgyzstan authorities across the full spectrum of human rights issues, including freedom of religion. Our Embassy in Bishkek regularly meets with representatives from local civil society and international organisations and the government, including the State Commission for Religious Affairs, to better understand the challenges to the promotion of freedom of religion. We have also supported efforts to further the dialogue between the State Commission for Religious Affairs and religious groups in country.We are involved in a number of initiatives which indirectly support religious freedom and education within Kyrgyzstan. Only this month, British Imam Qari Muhammad Asim attended an international conference on Islam, organised by the State Commission for Religious Affairs in Bishkek, which recognised the importance of freedom of religion and interfaith dialogue.We will continue to raise our concerns about human rights directly with the Kyrgyz Government, and in the appropriate international fora, at every suitable opportunity.​

Central African Republic: Politics and Government

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the security situation in Central African Republic.

Harriett Baldwin: ​The security situation in Central African Republic has deteriorated significantly over the past 12-18 months and remains extremely concerning. Armed groups are in control of approximately 70 per cent of the country. The State remains almost non-existent with control limited to the capital, Bangui. The risk of protests and violence remains high and unpredictable.The UK is committed to working within the UN Security Council and the EU to ensure that the UN Peacekeeping Mission in CAR (MINUSCA) and the EU Training Mission (EUTM RCA) can deliver on their respective stabilisation mandates.

Jamal Khashoggi

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, on what date subsequent to the murder of Jamal Khashoggi (a) officials and (b) Ministers in his Department were made aware of the existence of evidence that Saudi officials had been seeking to take Mr Khashoggi to Riyadh.

Alistair Burt: The UK supports the continuation of the Saudi and Turkish investigations in order to ascertain the facts of 2 October. We do not comment on intelligence matters.

Jamal Khashoggi

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, on what date subsequent to the murder of Jamal Khashoggi (a) officials and (b) Ministers in his Department were made aware of the existence of evidence that Saudi officials had been involved in Mr Khashoggi's death.

Alistair Burt: As the Foreign Secretary has said, the UK needs to wait until we can see clearly the hard evidence from the ongoing investigations to determine what happened on 2 October.

Jamal Khashoggi

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, on what date (a) officials and (b) Ministers in his Department heard a copy of the audio recording from Turkish authorities of the murder of Jamal Khashoggi.

Alistair Burt: ​We do not comment on intelligence matters.

Saudi Arabia: Official Visits

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether any of the 17 Saudi officials and agents subjected to Magnitsky sanctions by the United States on 15 November 2018 were among the entourage who accompanied Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman on his visit to the UK in April 2018.

Alistair Burt: ​We do not comment on individual immigration cases.

Jamal Khashoggi

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with his US counterpart on the US State Department’s latest assessment of the involvement of Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman in ordering the murder of Jamal Khashoggi.

Alistair Burt: Together with our international partners, including the US, we are following the ongoing Saudi and Turkish investigations closely. We continue to stress that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia must put in place measures to ensure that this can never happen again. We need to see proper accountability for those responsible but we must not pre-empt the outcome of the investigation.

Malaysia: Primates

Patrick Grady: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment the Government has made of the effect of palm oil production on the orangutan population in Malaysia.

Mark Field: The UK supports sustainable trade of agricultural commodities associated with deforestation, including palm oil. We are a signatory to the Amsterdam Declaration in support of a fully sustainable palm oil supply chain and are a member of the Tropical Forest Alliance 2020 and have endorsed the New York Declaration on Forests.In Malaysia the British High Commission is working with Malaysian government enforcement agencies and NGOs to tackle the illegal wildlife trade. During HRH the Prince of Wales' visit to Sarawak in November 2017 the state government reiterated its full commitment to protect the orangutan. Both Sabah and Sarawak states have invested in two rehabilitation centres for displaced orangutans. The UK is an active member of the Great Ape Survival Partnership (GRASP), a UN body dedicated to the conservation of great apes, including orangutans.

Department for Exiting the European Union

Brexit

Sir Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, pursuant to the Prime Minister's oral contribution of 15 November 2018, Official Report column 454, what the meaning is of the legal term best endeavours.

Chris Heaton-Harris: The reference to best endeavours in Article 184 of the Withdrawal Agreement is a legally binding commitment that requires the UK and the EU to conduct themselves so that negotiations on the future relationship are meaningful. It prohibits inflexible or obstructive behaviour and obliges the parties to pay reasonable regard to the interests of the other party.

Brexit

Sir Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union,  pursuant to the Prime Minister's oral contribution of 15 November 2018, Official Report column 454, what process there will be for resolution of any dispute as to whether best endeavours have been used.

Chris Heaton-Harris: In the unlikely event that a Party considers that the other has not used best endeavours, as set out in Article 184 of the Withdrawal Agreement, the complaining Party could bring a complaint under the processes established by the Withdrawal Agreement.

Brexit

Sir Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, pursuant to the Prime Minister's oral contribution of 15 November 2018, Official Report column 454, what the sanction or other mode of enforcement will be for a failure to comply with the legal requirement to use best endeavours.

Chris Heaton-Harris: In the unlikely event that it is determined that a Party has not complied with Article 184 of the Withdrawal Agreement, the primary remedy would be that the party in default would be obliged to return to the negotiating table and modify its position. In the event that there was further non-compliance, remedies may be imposed under the processes established by the Withdrawal Agreement.

Department of Health and Social Care

Surgery

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the effect on patient outcomes of delaying access to elective surgical procedures on the basis of (a) body weight and (b) smoking status.

Steve Brine: Clinical commissioning groups are responsible for commissioning care that will provide the best possible outcomes for their patients. In doing so, they should take into account best practice and National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidance. No such assessment has been made by the Department or NHS England.

Psychiatric Patients: Electronic Cigarettes

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if his Department will make an assessment of the effectiveness of e-cigarettes in reducing smoking rates among in patients in mental health facilities.

Steve Brine: Public Health England has published assessments of the population level impact of e-cigarette use in reducing smoking rates, as part of its annual reviews of the evidence base on e-cigarettes and novel products. The most recent review can be found at the following link: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/684963/Evidence_review_of_e-cigarettes_and_heated_tobacco_products_2018.pdf

Carbon Monoxide: Poisoning

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to educate the public on (a) the dangers of carbon monoxide and (b) seek to prevent further deaths and injuries from such poisoning; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps Public Health England is taking to raise awareness of the danger posed by carbon monoxide; and if he will make a statement.

Steve Brine: Public Health England (PHE) raises public awareness of the impacts of carbon monoxide (CO) pollution by supporting activities that aim to change behaviour, such as the annual Clean Air Day. PHE is also working with health partners for example, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence to improve the evidence on the health impacts of poor indoor air quality which will enhance advice to the public. PHE promotes awareness about CO through the use of blog posts, press releases and social media updates. PHE produces a number of materials, which are issued over the winter period, and provide information on, and warnings of the dangers of CO poisoning to help prevent potential injury or death. This includes the Cold Weather Plan, updated in October 2018. This is shared and promoted through all channels including all local authorities and National Health Service organisations and can be viewed at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/cold-weather-plan-cwp-for-england PHE published advice and guidance on social media to remind campers about the dangers of using barbeques inside tents and other enclosed spaces. An example of this can be viewed at the following link: https://publichealthmatters.blog.gov.uk/2015/12/15/carbon-monoxide-the-silent-killer/

Carbon Monoxide: Poisoning

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to increase awareness among GPs of the symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning to improve the diagnostic process; and if he will make a statement.

Steve Brine: Public Health England has published guidance notes for general practitioners, emergency physicians and other medical professionals in England, to help diagnose and manage carbon monoxide poisoning in patients. These materials are available at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/carbon-monoxide-co At the end of every year, the Cross Government Group on Gas Safety and Carbon Monoxide Awareness (COCCG) publishes its annual report, which provides a summary of the work carried out by COCCG members of Government departments, devolved administrations and other governmental bodies over the year. This includes activities that support professionals, including medical professionals, on carbon monoxide recognition and diagnosis. The report is available at the following link: http://www.hse.gov.uk/gas/domestic/cross-government-group.htm

Carbon Monoxide: Poisoning

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will introduce mandatory reporting of all carbon monoxide incidents encountered by the health and social care services; and if he will make a statement.

Steve Brine: The Department has no current plans to introduce mandatory reporting of carbon monoxide incidents encountered by health and social services.

Ocrelizumab

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the affordability to the NHS of ocrelizumab for the treatment of progressive multiple sclerosis.

Steve Brine: The Department has made no assessment. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence is currently developing technology appraisal guidance on the use of ocrelizumab for treating primary progressive multiple sclerosis.

Cancer

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the number of specialists required in the cancer workforce by 2030.

Steve Brine: Health Education England published its first ever Cancer Workforce Plan in December 2017, which commits to an expansion in the cancer workforce. The recommendations from this plan include actions to ensure there are enough staff with the right skills to deliver the funded activity set out in the Cancer Taskforce Strategy by 2021, and focuses on priority professions to do this. HEE intends to produce a longer-term strategy that looks at the workforce needs beyond 2021. This planning is now being fully aligned with the National Health Service long term plan and associated ambitions for further development of cancer services. This will include exploring sustainable growth beyond 2021 in key professions through continued investment in training places, with a greater focus on attracting and retaining students and improving the numbers of qualified professionals who go on to work in the NHS.

Ovarian Cancer

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care,  what recent steps his Department has taken to improve early diagnosis of ovarian cancer.

Steve Brine: Public Health England (PHE) has run a number of ‘Be Clear on Cancer’ (BCOC) campaigns to help improve early detection of cancer. In 2014 PHE ran a regional ovarian cancer campaign in the North West of England, and in 2017 a pilot which focussed on a range of abdominal symptoms, such as diarrhoea, bloating and discomfort that can be indicative of a number of cancers, including ovarian cancer was carried out in the East and West Midlands. PHE is currently undertaking new data analysis and research to determine the future direction of BCOC activity in 2019/20 and will take into consideration the outcomes of these previous campaigns. PHE will also consult with NHS England on the timings and location of any future campaigns.

Levetiracetam

Laura Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the effect of the UK leaving the EU on the availability of Keppra for people with epilepsy.

Steve Brine: The United Kingdom’s position on medicines regulation remains clear. We want to retain a close working partnership with the European Union to ensure that medicines remain available to UK patients in a safe and timely manner. We have been clear that this involves us making sure our regulators continue to work together, as they do with regulators internationally. As the Prime Minister has said, we intend to to explore with the EU the terms on which the UK could remain part the European Medicines Agency. Until we can be certain of the outcome of Brexit negotiations our duty as a responsible Government is to prepare for all eventualities, including ‘no deal’. On 23 August 2018, therefore, the Department wrote to all pharmaceutical companies that supply the United Kingdom with prescription only or pharmacy medicines from, or via, the European Union/European Economic Area, asking them to ensure they have a minimum of six weeks’ additional supply in the UK, over and above their business as usual operational buffer stocks, by 29 March 2019 in the event of a no-deal scenario. Since then, we have received very good engagement from industry who share our aims of ensuring continuity of medicines supply for patients is maintained and able to cope with any potential delays at the border that may arise in the short term in the event of a no-deal Brexit. We understand that the medicine Keppra is important to many people in this country. However, the Department recognises that through its medicines supply contingency programme it is requesting sensitive commercial information from pharmaceutical companies. To reassure participating companies, we have committed to treating all information received confidentially, securely and to using it only for the purposes of the Department’s programme. That means not introducing information about a company, specific medicine or their supply routes into the public domain.

Nusinersen

Anne Marie Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress NHS England, Biogen and NICE have made in discussions on a managed access agreement for the use of Spinraza for the treatment of spinal muscular dystrophy.

Steve Brine: The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is currently developing technology appraisal guidance for the National Health Service on the use of Spinraza (nusinersen) for the treatment of spinal muscular atrophy (SMA). NICE is in discussion with Biogen (the company that manufactures Spinraza) to determine if there are any commercial flexibilities that could support the company in putting forward a cost-effective price in order for NICE to recommend use of the drug as a clinically and cost-effective use of NHS resources. NHS England has published an Interim Policy Statement determining the circumstances in which existing patients will be supported to access Spinraza through the Expanded Access Programme (EAP) scheme sponsored by Biogen. The policy statement enables existing patients with type 1 SMA to access Spinraza in advance of NICE’s guidance, although the company has now withdrawn the EAP for newly diagnosed patients.

Breast Cancer

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will introduce a secondary support package covering breast cancer care to include (a) access to a dedicated clinical nurse specialist, (b) an assessment of physical and emotional needs at (i) diagnosis and (ii) through treatment and referral and (c) signposting to tailored, specialist support services.

Steve Brine: The NHS Cancer Programme is working to improve access to cancer nurse specialists (CNSs) for all cancer patients when they need it, including those with secondary breast cancer. We are committed to rolling out the recovery package to every cancer patient by 2020. The recovery package is a set of four interventions designed to help patients and clinicians assess a patient’s holistic needs, including physical and emotional needs, at appropriate time points through their cancer journey, as needs do change especially when a person is diagnosed with secondary cancer. A personalised care and support plan to meets these needs should be agreed, ensuring signposting and referral to the right support and care services is made, and also helping to empower patients to independently manage their own health, with advice and support. NHS England is committed to giving more patients access to a CNS or other specialist from diagnosis onwards to guide them through treatment options and ensure they receive appropriate information and support. In their first Cancer Workforce Plan, which was published in December 2017, Health Education England committed to supporting the expansion of CNSs by developing national competencies and a clear route into training. This will ensure that every patient has access to a CNS or other support worker by 2021.

Health Services: LGBT People

Sarah Champion: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference Stonewall's report entitled LGBT in Britain: Health Report, published in November 2018, if he will ask NHS England to run a national campaign to (a) tackle (i) homophobic, (ii) biphobic and (iii) transphobic discrimination in healthcare services and (b) encourage reporting of such discrimination.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The Government has no plans to run such a national campaign at this time. The Department is working closely with NHS England and the Government Equalities Office in the implementation of the LGBT Action Plan, which was published in July 2018. This will include the recruitment of a National Adviser who will work to lead improvements to LGBT healthcare.

Parkinson's Disease: Mental Illness

Martin Vickers: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much the National Institute of Health Research spent on research into mental health interventions for people with Parkinson’s disease who have anxiety and/or depression in each of the five years up to and including 2017.

Caroline Dinenage: The Department’s National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including Parkinson’s disease and related illness. It is not usual practice to ring-fence funds for particular topics or conditions. Applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards being made on the basis of the importance of the topic to patients and health and care services, value for money and scientific quality. The following table shows NIHR research into mental health interventions for people with Parkinson’s disease who suffer anxiety and or depression over the last five years is approximately £4.9 million. This includes funding for research projects and clinical trials through the NIHR Clinical Research Network: Financial Year (FY) 2013/14FY 2014/15FY 2015/16FY 2016/17FY 2017/18Total69,386993,4191,107,9361,392,3441,393,0034,956,090

Prescriptions: Fees and Charges

Martin Vickers: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many prescription items were dispensed for free in each exemption category in the last period for which figures are available.

Steve Brine: The information is not held in the format requested.

Cannabis: Misuse

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 15 November 2018 to Question 188046 if he will request the data from the National Crime Agency on the strength of cannabis seized by that agency in order to enable a (a) comparison with the work undertaken by King's College London and (b) study of the data’s relevance to (i) users’ health and (ii) the provision of health services.

Steve Brine: Although the National Crime Agency (NCA) collects information about the illegal supply of drugs it does not routinely test the strength of cannabis seized by police. The NCA is not planning to report on cannabis purity and therefore it holds no data that could be compared with information contained in the report by King’s College London.

Medical Treatments

Ben Bradley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress has been made on creating a system whereby patient evidence can be considered as part of the specialised commissioning relative prioritisation process.

Steve Brine: Patients and the public already have the opportunity to submit peer reviewed, published evidence as part of the clinical commissioning policy and services specification development process and to comment on draft commissioning policies and service specifications during public consultation. An engagement report which summarises the views submitted is considered by the Clinical Priorities Advisory Group as part of their deliberations.

Paramedical Staff: Training

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate his Department has made of the cost to the public purse of extending eligibility of NHS Learning Support Fund payments to undergraduate students of paramedic practice.

Stephen Hammond: The NHS Learning Support Fund was developed in recognition of the compulsory clinical placement hours that student nurses, midwives and allied health professions within the scope of the reforms implemented in August 2017 need to complete in order to graduate from their courses. The route into paramedicine currently has various education and funding models. Therefore, paramedic training was not included in the scope of the reforms implemented in 2017. Financial support arrangements will be considered as paramedicine becomes an all degree subject, as agreed by the Health and Care Professions Council on 21 March 2018.

Parkinson's Disease: Drugs

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much has been spent on prescription drugs to manage Parkinson's disease in each of the last five years.

Steve Brine: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Leicester South (Jonathan Ashworth MP) on 17 April 2018 to Question 135014.

Parkinson's Disease: Research

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much has been spent on research into Parkinson's disease in each of the last five years.

Caroline Dinenage: The Department’s National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including Parkinson’s disease, it is not usual practice to ring-fence funds for particular topics or conditions. Applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards being made on the basis of the importance of the topic to patients and health and care services, value for money and scientific quality. The following table shows NIHR support for Parkinson’s disease research over the last five years is estimated to total over £10.2 million and includes funding for research projects and clinical trials through the NIHR Clinical Research Network. NIHR Funding for Parkinson’s Disease Research:Financial Year (FY) 2013/14FY 2014/15FY 2015/16FY 2016/17FY 2017/18Total£ 2,176,651£1,981,228£2,182,501£1,979,283£1,897,159£10,216,822

Statins

Dr Rosena Allin-Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure the supply of statins after the UK leaves the EU.

Steve Brine: Until we can be certain of the outcome of Brexit negotiations our duty as a responsible government is to prepare for all eventualities, including ‘no deal’. On 23 August 2018, therefore, the Department wrote to all pharmaceutical companies that supply the United Kingdom with prescription only or pharmacy medicines from, or via, the European Union/European Economic Area, asking them to ensure they have a minimum of six weeks’ additional supply in the UK, over and above their business as usual operational buffer stocks, by 29 March 2019 in the event of a no-deal scenario. Since then, we have received very good engagement from industry who share our aims of ensuring continuity of medicines supply for patients is maintained and able to cope with any potential delays at the border that may arise in the short term in the event of a no-deal Brexit. We understand that statins are vitally important to many people in this country. However, the Department recognises that through its medicines supply contingency programme it is requesting sensitive commercial information from pharmaceutical companies. To reassure participating companies, we have committed to treating all information received confidentially, securely and to using it only for the purposes of the Department’s programme. That means not introducing information about a company, specific medicine or their supply routes into the public domain.

Eating Disorders

Paul Farrelly: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 16 October 2018 to Question 177617 on Eating disorders, if he will list the 70 new or extended community services providing specialist community-based care for eating disorders that are open or in development by the local authority in which they are based.

Jackie Doyle-Price: This information is not available by local authority.

National Institute for Health and Care Excellence: Fees and Charges

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to his Department’s consultation entitled NICE recommendations: charging and appeal panels which closed on 14 September 2018, what assessment his Department has made of the potential effect on the sustainability of the smallest businesses of (a) charging for NICE appraisals and (b) charging for NICE appraisals at a discounted rate.

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to his Department’s consultation entitled NICE recommendations: charging and appeal panels which closed on 14 September 2018, what discussions his Department has had with NICE on exempting the smallest companies from the proposed appraisal charges.

Steve Brine: The Government recently consulted on draft amendments to regulations that would enable the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) to charge companies for the cost of developing technology appraisal and highly specialised technology evaluation recommendations relating to their products and to allow NICE to recruit appeal panel members representing the National Health Service from the devolved administrations. The consultation included a draft Impact Assessment and sought views on allowing NICE to charge small companies less and permit small companies to pay in instalments. The charging model in the consultation document proposed a 25% discount for small companies. The Government is currently analysing the responses and will publish its response in due course.

SecurMed: Fees and Charges

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the European Medicines Verification Organisation’s report, NMVO’s Fee Models Status, published on 21 August 2018, what discussions his Department has had with the UK's National Medicines Verification Organisation on reducing the entrance fees for small companies in line with those of other European countries.

Jackie Doyle-Price: SecurMed, the not-for-profit company set up by stakeholders in the United Kingdom medicines supply chain, is responsible for setting the fee model and level of fees as the UK’s National Medicines Verification Organisation (NMVO). In their supervisory capacity, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and the Department’s aim is to ensure that SecurMed is complying with the regulation in a fair and proportionate way. As part of that role, the MHRA and the Department have been involved in discussions with SecurMed to challenge and seek to influence the pricing model to ensure that the UK’s fee structure is fair and proportionate. The European Commission has confirmed that the fee model being used by SecurMed is in line with the majority of other member states NMVO’s across the European Union. It is based on the number of users and cost per connection where larger organisations, which are more likely to have multiple marketing authorisations, pay more. An annual fee waiver scheme exists for micro Marketing Authorisation Holders which is designed to support start-ups and help ensure there is not a barrier to market entry.

Mental Health Services: Occupational Therapy

Barbara Keeley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many occupational therapists have been employed in NHS mental health services in each month since March 2017.

Barbara Keeley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many professionally qualified staff have been employed in NHS mental health services in each month since March 2017.

Barbara Keeley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many clinical support staff have been employed in NHS mental health services in each month since March 2017.

Barbara Keeley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many administrative and infrastructure staff have been employed in NHS mental health services in each month since March 2017.

Barbara Keeley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many allied health professionals and scientific, therapeutic and technical staff have been employed in NHS mental health services in each month since March 2017.

Jackie Doyle-Price: NHS Digital publishes Hospital and Community Health Services (HCHS) workforce statistics. These include staff working in hospital trusts and clinical commissioning groups (CCGs), but not staff working in primary care or in general practitioner surgeries, local authorities or other providers. The attached table shows the number of professionally qualified clinical staff, occupational therapists, support to clinical staff, infrastructure support staff and allied health professionals and other scientific, therapeutic and technical staff working in mental health areas of work in National Health Service trusts and CCGs in England as at the last day of each month from March 2017 to July 2018, Full Time Equivalent.



Attached table
(Word Document, 13.48 KB)

Psychiatry: Labour Turnover

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many trained psychiatrists have (a) joined and (b) left NHS-employment every year since 2010.

Jackie Doyle-Price: NHS Digital publishes Hospital and Community Health Services workforce statistics for England. These include staff working in hospital trusts and clinical commission groups, but not staff working in primary care or in general practitioner surgeries, local authorities or other providers. The following table shows the number of fully trained psychiatrists, defined as those who have completed their Certificate of Completion of Training, also known as consultants, who have joined and left National Health Service employment or the psychiatry consultant grade, as at 31 July in each specified year, from 2010, headcount.  JoinersLeaversJuly 2010 to July 2011498419July 2011 to July 2012486420July 2012 to July 2013429438July 2013 to July 2014507440July 2014 to July 2015477448July 2015 to July 2016433446July 2016 to July 2017501414July 2017 to July 2018501461

Mental Illness

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the percentage change in the amount of people diagnosed with mental health conditions has been in each year since 2010.

Jackie Doyle-Price: This information is not held in the format requested.

Mental Health Services: Expenditure

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the percentage change in Government spending on mental health conditions has been in each year since 2010.

Jackie Doyle-Price: Information on the percentage change in Government spending on mental health since 2010 is not collected in the format requested.

Hospitals

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of the recommendations of the Academic Health Science Networks report of 5 November 2018 on Understanding the Performance and Potential of Specialist Hospitals.

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to refer to the role of specialist hospitals in research, innovation and training in future NHS planning.

Caroline Dinenage: NHS England will be considering the implications of the report’s recommendations to consider how the National Health Service could take greater advantage of specialist hospitals and their strengths and, in liaison with the Academic Health Science Networks (AHSNs), ensure that AHSNs continue to build and develop their local and regional networks, strengthening relationships with all NHS organisations including specialist hospitals.

Mental Health Act 1983 Independent Review

Anneliese Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the effect of the interim report of the Independent Review of the Mental Health Act on the rate of detentions under that Act in (a) England and (b) the Oxfordshire clinical commissioning group area.

Janet Daby: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make it his policy to reform the Mental Health Act 1983 better to protect the rights of those who are in receipt of mental health treatment.

Anneliese Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the timetable is for his Department to respond to the forthcoming final report of the Independent Review of the Mental Health Act.

Anneliese Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the forthcoming final report of the Independent Review of the Mental Health Act, if he will reform that Act better to protect the rights of people who are subject to it; and whether there is a timescale for bringing forward such legislative proposals.

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the effect of the independent review of the Mental Health Act on the rate of detentions under that Act in NHS Hartlepool and Stockton-on-Tees CCG.

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will reform the Mental Health Act to better protect the rights of people with mental health needs.

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the timetable for his Department to respond to the recommendations of the independent review of the Mental Health Act is.

Yasmin Qureshi: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the effect of the interim report of the Independent Review of the Mental Health Act on the rate of detentions under that Act in the NHS Bolton clinical commissioning group area.

Yasmin Qureshi: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the timetable is for his Department to respond to the recommendations of the Independent Review of the Mental Health Act.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The Independent Review of the Mental Health Act 1983 will report before the end of the year. The Government will consider its findings and respond in due course. The Review will make recommendations to Government for how it should improve the Act, including on improving the protection of people’s rights and considering how detentions might be reduced, but it was not commissioned to have a direct influence on legislation or practice.

Mental Health Act 1983 Independent Review

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made an assessment of the implications for the provisions of the Mental Capacity (Amendments) Bill of the forthcoming final report of the Independent Review of the Mental Health Act.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The Independent Review of the Mental Health Act 1983 will report before the end of the year. The Review will make recommendations to Government for how the Act may be improved, including considering aspects concerning the interface with the Mental Capacity Act 2005. The Government will consider its findings and respond in due course. The Government is committed to the Mental Capacity (Amendment) Bill, and to introducing Liberty Protection Safeguards that will ensure that vulnerable people are receiving the protections they need.

Palliative Care: Children

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure that children with life-limiting conditions and their families have access to children's palliative care in the community out-of-hours and at weekends.

Caroline Dinenage: High quality community care is crucial to the delivery of end of life care services and our Choice Commitment, this includes out-of-hours and weekend services. Work undertaken by NHS England and system partners at a national level includes supporting sustainability and transformation partnership planning to address end of life care in all settings and providing key data on services; providing guidance on cost effective commissioning in end of life care; and providing practical examples of how out-of-hours access to palliative care, seven days a week, can be achieved. Going forward, we will have new measures in place to assess progress and hold commissioners to account, including a new indicator to measure deaths in hospital after three or more emergency admissions in the final 90 days of life, which will help us assess quality and provision of out of hospital care. NHS England is currently working with experts to develop new commissioning models for children and young people’s palliative care as it can be difficult for some clinical commissioning groups to meet the needs of this vulnerable group given the relatively small number of children concerned and their geographical spread.

Postnatal Care

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether NHS England has put forward the inclusion of a maternal six-week postnatal check in negotiations on the General Medical Services contract; and what recent progress has been made in those negotiations.

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure that a maternal six-week postnatal check is included in the General Medical Services contract; and what funding he plans to allocate for the provision of those checks.

Steve Brine: The inclusion of a requirement to carry out a six-week postnatal check for all mothers in the general medical services contract would need to be negotiated and agreed, as part of the annual contract negotiations. We have asked for this issue to be considered in the contract negotiations for 2019/20. The details of those negotiations are not generally discussed until an agreement on the way forward has been reached.

Allergies: Medical Treatments

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the shortage of EpiPen 0.3mg Auto-Injectors in (a) Yorkshire and the Humber and (b) England; and what steps he is taking to address that shortage.

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the effect on the health of children under 16 of the national shortage of EpiPen 0.3mg Auto-Injectors; and what plans he has in place to reduce that shortage.

Steve Brine: The Department is working very closely with all the manufacturers of adrenaline auto-injectors, the Medicines and Health products Regulatory Agency, and NHS England and the supply situation is improving. Supplies of EpiPen 0.3mg and the alternative adrenaline auto-injectors are currently available across the country in volumes that are sufficient to meet normal United Kingdom requirements and further deliveries of all three brands of adrenaline auto-injectors are expected in the coming weeks. Comprehensive information and guidance, with input from National Health Service allergy experts has been cascaded to all healthcare professionals, schools, patient groups and frontline NHS services, which provides information about the supply issue, clinical management options and advice to share with patients. We have put this process in place to ensure that those patients with the greatest clinical need have been prioritised to receive new supplies of adrenaline auto-injectors.

Asylum: Maternity Services

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether pregnant asylum seekers with no leave to remain are charged different amounts for maternity services in different parts of the UK.

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many pregnant failed asylum seekers have been charged for maternity care between January and November 2018; and what the average amount of that charge was.

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the cost to the public purse of invoicing pregnant asylum seekers with no leave to remain for maternity care in 2017-2018 was.

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care,  what the proportion was of pregnant asylum seekers who paid in full their invoices for maternity care in (a) 2016 and (b) 2017.

Stephen Hammond: Asylum seekers and those failed asylum seekers supported by the Home Office under section 4(2) of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 or a local authority under section 21 or Part 1 (care and support) of the Care Act 2014 (Regulation 15(d) are exempt from charge under the Charging Regulations. Charges for overseas visitors and migrants are set in accordance with national tariff and rules as laid out in the published guidance: ‘Guidance on implementing the overseas visitor charging regulations’. The Department does not hold data on the number of pregnant asylum seekers or failed asylum seekers who have been charged for maternity care for the years requested.

Hearing Impairment: Digital Technology

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether NHS England plans to approve an app to support patients in managing hearing loss; and if he will make a statement.

Caroline Dinenage: There are no hearing loss specific apps yet on the apps library. Developers of apps with health applications can seek National Health Service approval for them through the NHS England Digital Assessment Questionnaire process. Having gone through this process, successful apps will be given an NHS accreditation and uploaded to the NHS Apps and Wearables library. NHS England is in discussions with a number of companies to go through the apps library process.

Mental Health Services: Prisons

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the (a) adequacy and (b) accessibility to prisoners of mental health services in prisons.

Jackie Doyle-Price: Improving the mental health of people in prison is a top priority for this Government. We recognise that there are high numbers of people in prison with mental ill health. When people do go to prison, they should receive the same standard and access to National Health Service healthcare and mental health treatments and care as people in the community. The Department has not made a formal assessment of adequacy and accessibility of mental health services for people in prison. However, work is underway to improve mental health services in prison. NHS England are focussing on an offender mental health pathway which will ensure that offenders are directed to the most appropriate intervention to their needs at the right time in the criminal justice system. The programme of work includes ensuring timely and appropriate transfers to a mental health hospital, timely remission to prison as part of a planned episode of care, and ensuring that those requiring treatment for mental ill health have access to high quality care. New service specifications have been published for both low and medium secure hospitals as well as prison mental health services. The Prison Mental Health Specification embeds the Quality Standards for Prison Mental Health Services developed by the Royal College of Psychiatrists to ensure high quality care for all. Draft Guidance for Timely and Appropriate Transfers and Remissions of care to and from a mental health hospital is currently in production.

Mental Health Services: Waiting Lists

Jeff Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made an assessment of the implications for his policies of the recent Rethink Mental Illness survey which found that patients with severe mental illness wait on average 14 weeks for an assessment; and if he will make a statement.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The Government recognises that we need to go further in improving mental health services. The recent survey and publication of ‘Right Treatment, Right Time’ by Rethink Mental Illness provides a valuable additional contribution to discussions about priorities for mental health going forward. The Government has asked the National Health Service to develop a long-term plan which will set out a vision for the health service and we have been clear that better access to mental health services, to help achieve the Government’s commitment to parity of esteem between mental and physical health, is one of the principles which must underpin the plan.

Mental Health Services

Jeff Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to page 36 of the Five Year Forward View for Mental Health, whether each access to treatment pathway will (a) be published according to the timetable set out in that document and (b) include waiting time targets.

Jackie Doyle-Price: Of the clinical pathways referred to on page 36 of the Five Year Forward View for Mental Health, the following have already been published. - Early Intervention in Psychosis;- Urgent and Emergency Liaison Mental Health Services;- Services for Children and Young People with Eating Disorders;- Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) pathway for Long Term Conditions; and- The Perinatal Pathway. Additionally, guidance in relation to IAPT for people with long-term conditions has also been published (in March) along with guidance on commissioning physical healthcare for people with severe mental illness and for developing accident and emergency liaison psychiatry services. The acute pathway for adults and older adults are still in development alongside an updated Pathway for children and young people with eating disorders, so that more young people can be treated closer to home. Other pathways will now need to be considered within the context of the long-term plan. The Government has been clear that better access to mental health services, to help achieve the Government’s commitment to parity of esteem between mental and physical health, is one of the principles which must underpin the plan.

Department for International Development

Overseas Aid

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what estimate she has made of the cost in cash terms of maintaining Official Development Assistance at 0.7 per cent of gross national income in the next financial year.

Alistair Burt: The government’s commitment to spend 0.7% of Gross National Income (GNI) on Official Development Assistance is measured on a calendar year basis. To meet this commitment, ODA budgets are routinely adjusted at fiscal events in response to changing forecasts. The most recent GNI forecasts are available in the Office for Budgetary Responsibility’s October 2018 Economic and Fiscal Outlook and can be found in the Economy supplementary tables.

Palestinians: Antisemitism

Joan Ryan: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, with reference to her Department's Memorandum of Understanding with the Palestinian Authority, what discussions her Department has had with the PA on a video posted on social media on 2 November 2018 by PA Education Minister Sabri Saidam which included the line, it was said that the old continent was sick of the behaviour of the Jews at the time and therefore it planned to get rid of them.

Alistair Burt: The UK strongly condemns any language or actions that could stir up hatred and prejudice. Our sustained support to the Palestinian Authority (PA) is underpinned by a Memorandum of Understanding which requires the PA to commit to the principle of non-violence and to tackle language and avoid actions that could incite violence or hatred. The UK continues to urge the Palestinian leadership to uphold this principle. President Abbas restated his commitment to the two-state solution on September 27 at the UN General Assembly.

Department for Education

Pre-school Education: Social Mobility

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what funding his Department has provided through Budget 2018 to ensure the inclusion of social mobility in early years education.

Nadhim Zahawi: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Education announced this week £6.5 million funding for voluntary and community sector organisations who work with families of young children to support early language development, helping to address and support concerns when they can have the most impact; and to improve the early years education of children with special educational needs and disabilities.The government set out, prior to Budget 2018, plans to spend £3.5 billion this year on our free early education entitlements. We provide 15 hours of free early education for disadvantaged two year-olds, with almost 750,000 benefitting since 2013, and we provide the Early Years Pupil Premium, which delivers up to £300 per eligible child per year to support better outcomes for disadvantaged three and four year olds. This is on top of the near universal take up of the free 15 hours entitlement for all three and four year-olds.Funding for the entitlements is also supported by a £100 million investment through our social mobility action plan ‘Unlocking Talent, Fulfilling Potential’, published in December 2017.

Further Education: Pay and Pensions

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate his Department has made of the increase in salary and pension costs in the further education sector in the next 12 months.

Anne Milton: It is the responsibility of individual employers within the further education sector to set the salaries of their staff. For the period of 2019 to 2020, we estimate that £80 million more will need to be put into the Teacher Pensions Scheme by further education employers as a result of the recent revaluation.Our intention is to fund general further education colleges and sixth form colleges, specialist designated institutions and adult and community learning providers for the increased costs resulting from the changes to the valuation of the Teachers’ Pension Scheme.We will undertake a public consultation to make sure that we are allocating funding to where it is most needed. We expect to launch the consultation in December, with a response in January 2019. As the Local Government Pensions Scheme is due to be revalued in 2019, we are therefore unable to make estimates about employer costs until that valuation is completed.

Pre-school Education: Finance

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether maintained nursery schools will be able to benefit from the additional funding announced in Budget 2018.

Nadhim Zahawi: I refer my hon. Friend, the Member for Hendon, to the answer I gave on 1 November 2018 to question 185052.

Further Education: Finance

Wera Hobhouse: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of funding for further education institutions.

Anne Milton: We have protected the base rate of funding for 16 to 19 year olds for all types of providers until the end of the current spending review period in 2020. We have been allocated £1.5 billion for the Adult Education Budget for each year of the 2015 Spending Review period to engage adults to participate and develop the skills and learning they need up to level 3 to equip them for work, an apprenticeship or further learning.We are actively exploring the efficiency and resilience of further education and will be assessing how far existing and forecast funding and regulatory structures enable high quality provision. This work will align closely with the Post-18 Funding Review in particular, to ensure a coherent vision for further and higher education. As with other areas of departmental spending, further education funding from 2020 onwards will be considered as part of the next spending review.

Schools: Defibrillators

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if the Government will bring forward proposals to make it compulsory for all schools to have defibrillators.

Nadhim Zahawi: There is no legal requirement for schools to purchase an automated external defibrillator (AED), but the government encourages them to do so as part of their first aid equipment.AEDs are currently available for schools and other education providers in the UK to purchase through the National Health Service Supply Chain at a reduced cost. These arrangements are available to all UK schools including academies, independent schools, sixth-form colleges, further education institutions and early years settings (including holiday and out-of-school providers).The government has produced guidance for schools on buying, installing and using an AED, which can be viewed at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/automated-external-defibrillators-aeds-in-schools.

Overseas Students: Immigration

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 23 July 2018 to Question 165451, Overseas Students: Immigration, what criteria his Department uses to assess whether an individual’s residence in the UK and Islands has been wholly or mainly for the purpose of receiving full-time education.

Mr Sam Gyimah: Generally, to meet the eligibility requirements for student support, a student should be resident in England, have ‘settled’ status or a recognised connection with the UK and have been a resident of the UK and Islands (Channel Islands and the Isle of Man) for the three years prior to the start of the course.Residence in the UK and Islands must not have been wholly or mainly for the purpose of receiving full-time education, a requirement that has been in place since the 1960s.Student Finance England determines whether an individual has met the residency requirements by considering applications for student support and accompanying evidence. Applications are considered on a case by case basis.

Apprentices: Taxation

Mr John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what progress his Department has made on assessing the effect of the Apprenticeship Levy and its impact against other types of employer investment as part of the Creative Industries Sector deal.

Mr John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what information his Department holds on the total amount of money (a) employers in the creative industries have paid into the apprenticeship levy and  (b) employers in the creative industries have spent on apprenticeships since that Levy came into force.

Anne Milton: We are carefully monitoring the impact of the apprenticeship levy in different sectors and are establishing new channels for working with employers in the creative industries to make sure that the levy can empower businesses to make a sustainable investment in the apprenticeship training they need.The apprenticeship levy is collected from employers by Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs. The Education and Skills Funding Agency does not require levy-paying employers to register an industry sector when registering an apprenticeship service account and is therefore unable to supply information on the sectoral distribution of spending on apprenticeships in the format requested.

STEM subjects: Apprentices

Mr John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what criteria the Institute for Apprenticeships uses to decide the level of STEM content required by apprenticeship standards; and what assessment he has made of the effect of that requirement on the costs to employers of providing off-the-job training for apprentices.

Anne Milton: Our new high quality apprenticeship standards are developed by employers and contain the skills, knowledge and behaviours that an apprentice needs to be occupationally competent, including science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) content where appropriate. Employers are able to choose the standards that best suit their needs and can determine how off the job training content is delivered. We have therefore not made an assessment of the costs to employers of providing STEM off the job training content.The criteria that the Institute for Apprenticeships uses to decide the level of STEM content required by apprenticeship standards is a matter for the Institute. I have asked its Chief Executive, Sir Gerry Berragan, to write to the right hon. Member and a copy of his reply will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

Managers: Apprentices

Henry Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions his Department has had with the business community on the Institute for Apprenticeships' proposed changes in funding bands for management apprenticeships.

Henry Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions his Department has had with the Institute for Apprenticeships on the concerns made by the business community on the consultation process into the review of the apprenticeship funding bands.

Henry Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the timescale is for the decision on the remaining apprenticeship funding band changes proposed by the Institute for Apprenticeships.

Anne Milton: As the Institute for Apprenticeships (IfA) are an independent body, it is for them, rather than for the department, to lead on the process for reviewing funding bands for existing standards and on consultation with the business community.The IfA has worked with employer trailblazer groups throughout the review process. The IfA has also discussed the management standards directly with business stakeholders who have made representations.The remaining outcomes of the review of funding bands will be published on GOV.UK by the end of the calendar year.

Bright Tribe Multi-academy Trust

Angela Rayner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will publish an unredacted copy of the BrightTribe Academy minutes from 21 September 2018.

Nadhim Zahawi: As per section 124 of the ‘Articles of Association’ published by the Bright Tribe Academy Trust, trustees are asked to make minutes available as soon as reasonably practicable for those wishing to inspect them.It is however right that under section 125, trustees can mark some matters as confidential. This could be, for example, to avoid naming a specific child or teacher.

Wakefield City Academies Trust

Angela Rayner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the answer of 4 September 2018 to Question 168016 on Wakefield City Academies Trust, whether he plans to publish the Education and Skills Funding Agency report into Wakefield City Academies Trust after all the schools are transferred to new trusts.

Nadhim Zahawi: As all of the academies that were part of Wakefield City Academies Trust have now transferred to new trusts, the Education and Skills Funding Agency published its report of the multi‑academy trust review, carried out in 2016, on 15 November 2018 on GOV.UK. A copy of the report has been placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

Foster Care

Laura Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps the Government is taking to support foster carers to assist their former fostered children when they leave care.

Nadhim Zahawi: In 2014, the government introduced ‘Staying put: arrangements for care leavers aged 18 years and above’ which allows care leavers to continue living with their former foster carer when they reach age 18: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/staying-put-arrangements-for-care-leavers-aged-18-years-and-above. This means young people can continue to benefit from a stable and secure family setting, preparing for independence at a more gradual pace and moving into independent living when they are ready, rather than facing a cliff-edge on reaching age 18.To support local authorities to implement Staying Put we have provided £68.35 million to date. Funding for 2019/20 will be £23.77 million, and funding beyond 2020 will be subject to future spending reviews.The latest data show that for the year ending March 2018, 55% of those ceasing to be looked after in a foster placement on their 18th birthday stayed put with their former foster carer, which is an increase of 4% on the previous year. Furthermore, 31% of 19 year-olds were still with former foster carers on their 19th birthday, and 26% of 20 year-olds still with former foster carers on their 20th birthday. Again, these were both increases on the previous year.

Veterans: Employment

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to page 17 paragraph 2 of HM Government publication The Strategy For Our Veterans, published in November 2018, what steps he is taking to ensure that veterans enter appropriate employment and can continue to enhance their careers throughout their working lives; and what amount of funding he has allocated to the 2028 outcome.

Anne Milton: We have put in place a number of policies which will enable adults, including veterans, to access training to either help them into employment or to develop their careers whilst in employment.Our reforms to apprenticeships will provide people of all ages with access to top quality training and career prospects. In addition, the government-funded and government-supported careers offer includes the National Careers Service, which offers free careers information, advice and guidance to both young people and adults.The National Retraining Scheme, which was announced in the 2017 Autumn Budget, is an ambitious and far-reaching programme to drive adult retraining. The scheme will help those who are most at risk and in precarious employment to gain the skills they need to thrive as the economy changes. My right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer recently announced £100 million of new government funding, which will allow the roll-out of initial elements of the National Retraining Scheme from next year, and for the continued testing and development of the scheme.We are also funding specific schemes which provide training for veterans to become further education teachers or school teachers. Further Forces recruits and trains service leavers to teach science, engineering and technology in further education. There are currently around 100 service leavers engaged in the programme, which is delivered by the Education and Training Foundation. In 2017, additional funding of £900,000 over two years was made available to expand the programme by up to 100 further places.For teaching in schools, the Troops to Teachers bursary is worth a total of £40,000 over two years and will help ex-servicemen and women make the transition to the classroom. It is available to veterans who study for an undergraduate degree with Qualified Teacher Status in England in a priority subject.This is in addition to the work that the Ministry of Defence undertakes to help veterans into work and new careers.

Special Educational Needs: Finance

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of the SEND budgets of local authorities.

Nadhim Zahawi: Local authorities are required to provide schools with sufficient funds of up to £6,000 per pupil, to enable them to meet the additional costs of those with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). The local authority can also give additional funding from its high needs budget to schools that have a disproportionate number of pupils with SEND, whose additional support costs up to £6,000.When the costs of additional support required for a pupil with special educational needs exceed £6,000, the local authority should also allocate additional top-up funding to cover the excess costs. This funding comes from the local authority’s high needs budget. This year, high needs budgets total just under £6 billion across England, a £142 million increase since last year. This is explained in the high needs funding operational guide, available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/high-needs-funding-arrangements-2018-to-2019.However, we recognise that there is pressure on schools to do more, which is why we have taken steps to help them get the best value for every pound. We also recognise that local authorities are experiencing cost pressures on high needs and are keeping the overall level of funding for high needs under review.

Special Educational Needs: Expenditure

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what information his Department holds on how many local authorities have overspent on special education needs and disability budgets in each year since 2014.

Nadhim Zahawi: The Department for Education collects information on local authority spending through the section 251 returns, which for 2018 to 2019 can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/section-251-2018-to-2019.The department does not specifically collect information on where local authorities have overspent their high needs budgets. In 2018 to 2019, local authorities are obliged to pass at least 99.5% of their schools’ block funding, within the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG), on to local schools; and since 2017 to 2018, have been obliged to pass at least 93% (95% in 2018 to 2019) of funding for three and four-year olds to early years providers. Otherwise, local authorities are free to allocate their DSG, and in any one year may build up or draw down DSG reserves.

M and C Saatchi

Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions (a) he and (b) the Minister of State for Apprenticeships and Skills has had with M&C Saatchi on their contract to relaunch the marketing campaign promoting apprenticeships.

Anne Milton: The decision to appoint M&C Saatchi as the lead creative and strategic agency for the apprenticeships marketing campaign followed an independent and impartial, quality assured procurement process led by the Department for Education’s (DfE) strategic communications team. This was conducted via the Campaign Solutions framework co-ordinated by the Crown Commercial Service (CCS), which maintains a roster of 27 best-in-class advertising agencies capable of designing and delivering a major national campaign. More information on the framework can be found at: https://ccs-agreements.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/contracts/rm3774.After an initial engagement meeting with all interested agencies, the brief for the apprenticeships campaign was issued to all 27 agencies on the roster. Three agencies were successful at the first stage and subsequently invited to present their proposals to a team of communications professionals including DfE’s Director of Communications and the Cabinet Office Head of Campaigns. Throughout this process, additional support was provided by professionals from the DfE Commercial Directorate and the CCS. A cross-government team, comprising specialists from the Cabinet Office and Government Communication Service, reviews all proposals for major public-sector communications campaigns to confirm that they represent industry best practice and value for money.Ministers only meet government contractors once this process has been concluded and a winning bidder notified. M&C Saatchi were notified on 8 June. I subsequently met with the senior account planner from M&C Saatchi on 23 July as part of a regular ministerial apprenticeships ‘stocktake’ meeting. My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State has not met with representatives of M&C Saatchi.

Special Educational Needs: Gloucestershire

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what information he holds on the amount that Gloucestershire County Council has spent on legal activity regarding education, health and care plans in each of the last three years for which figures are available.

Nadhim Zahawi: The Department for Education does not collect specific information regarding the amounts that local authorities spend on legal activity around education, health and care (EHC) plans.Local authorities must adhere to legal requirements when making EHC needs assessments, when producing EHC plans and when meeting challenges from parents, young people and others. These are set out in the Children and Families Act (2014), supporting regulations and the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Code of Practice, available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/send-code-of-practice-0-to-25.

Universities: Closures

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment he has made of the risk of university closures due to financial pressures.

Mr Sam Gyimah: I refer the hon. Member for Cardiff Central to the answer I gave on 12 November to Question 188033.

Schools: Uniforms

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the oral contribution of the Minister for School Standards of 9 October 2018, Official Report column 65WH, what his planned timescale is for putting guidance on school uniform prices on a statutory footing.

Nick Gibb: The Government remains committed to putting the school uniform guidance on a statutory footing and will do so when a suitable legislative opportunity arises. No education bill was announced in the most recent Queen’s speech, which set out the proposed legislative programme for this session of Parliament.

Special Educational Needs: Finance

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 19 November 2018 to Question 191474, which 13 local authorities have been granted the ability to move funding from the schools block to the high needs block.

Nadhim Zahawi: For the funding year 2018 to 2019, local authorities have the flexibility to transfer up to 0.5% of their schools block funding to another block of the Dedicated Schools Grant, with the approval of their schools forum. Local authorities were only required to submit a request if they wished to transfer more than 0.5% out of the schools block, or if they did not receive support from the schools forum for a transfer.13 local authorities were allowed to transfer over 0.5% from the schools block to the high needs block.The local authorities are listed below. Local Authority NameAmount of transfer  (£million)Percentage of  schools block Barnsley1.41.00%Bolton2.01.00%Bournemouth1.11.20%Bristol2.00.80%Hartlepool0.50.80%Kingston-upon-Thames1.31.30%North Somerset1.20.97%Northumberland1.81.00%Oldham1.91.00%Poole0.70.92%South Gloucestershire2.91.90%Southwark2.00.80%Thurrock1.91.60%

Teaching Excellence Framework Independent Review: Public Appointments

Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Written Statement of 19 November 2018, TEF reviewer appointment, HCWS 1089, whether the independent review of the TEF and its reviewer will be able to have access to the deliberations of Philip Aurgar's Review of Post-18 Education and Funding relating to matters pertaining to the Teaching Excellence and Student Outcomes Framework.

Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Written Statement of 19 November 2018, TEF reviewer appointment, HCWS 1089, whether the reviewer will have autonomy in the establishment and composition of the advisory group charged in the review's terms of reference with providing advice and helping inform her review.

Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Written Statement of 19 November 2018, TEF reviewer appointment, HCWS 1089, whether the reviewer will report to (a) the House and (b) the Education Committee.

Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Written Statement of 19 November 2018, TEF reviewer appointment, HCWS 1089, what ability the independent reviewer will have to share access to speak to (a) providers who are taking part in pilots for the subject-level teaching excellence framework (b) his Department's officials involved in those pilots.

Mr Sam Gyimah: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State (Secretary of State) has appointed Dame Shirley Pearce to report of the operation of the Teaching Excellence and Student Outcomes Framework (TEF). The scope of her report is set out in section 26(5) of the Higher Education and Research Act 2017. As required by section 26 of the Act, Dame Shirley is required to report to the Secretary of State, and he must lay that report before Parliament.The Post 18 Review is due to conclude in early 2019, which will allow the TEF Independent Reviewer to consider the panel’s recommendations.As the Independent Reviewer of the TEF, it is for Dame Shirley to decide how her review should operate. She intends to establish a small group of people to advise her. How the group works is entirely for her. Furthermore, Dame Shirley is at liberty to approach whomever she believes can inform her review.

Ministry of Justice

Employment Tribunals Service: Appeals

Colleen Fletcher: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what proportion of appeals to the tribunals service in (a) Coventry, (b) the West Midlands and (c) England which related to (i) personal independence payments, (ii) employment and support allowance, (iii) income support, (iv) jobseeker's allowance and (v) tax credits, (vi) universal credit were successful in the most recent period for which figures are available.

Lucy Frazer: Information about the volumes and outcomes of appeals - including (i) Personal Independence Payment (PIP) and (ii) Employment Support Allowance (ESA) - to the First-tier Tribunal (Social Security and Child Support) (SSCS) is published at:www.gov.uk/government/collections/tribunals-statistics Since PIP was introduced 3.5m decisions have been made up to June 2018, of these 9% have been appealed and 4% have been overturned. Between April 2014 – March 2018, 3.5m ESA (post Work Capability Assessment) decisions have been made, of these 8% have been appealed and 4% have been overturned. SSCS appeals are listed into the hearing venue nearest to the appellant’s home address. The published csv files (which can be viewed at the link above) provide information about the outcomes of PIP and ESA appeals for hearing venues covering (a) Coventry, (b) the West Midlands and (c) England for the period April to June 2018, the latest period for which data are available.The table below contains the requested information for (iii) Income Support (IS), (iv) Job Seekers Allowance (JSA), (v) Tax Credits and (vi) Universal Credit (UC):Proportion1 of appeals decided in favour of the appellant for the period April to June 2018 (the latest period for which data are available) ISJSATax Credits2UCCoventry 43%~~71%West Midlands327%23%27%50%England438%34%32%54%Proportion based on the number of cases found in favour of the appellant at a tribunal hearing, as a percentage of the cases heard at a tribunal hearingIncludes Working Family Tax Credit, Child Tax Credit, and Working Tax Credit.West Midlands includes the venues: Birmingham, Wolverhampton, Walsall, Coventry, Nuneaton, Stoke, Telford, Hereford and Worcester.Excludes SSCS Scotland Region and Wales Region.~ Equates to value lower than 5Although care is taken when processing and analysing the data, the details are subject to inaccuracies inherent in any large-scale case management system and are the best data that are available.These data may differ slightly from that of the published statistics as these data were run on a different date.

Youth Offending Teams: Finance

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the real terms changes have been in his Department's total funding for youth offending teams in each year since 2010.

Edward Argar: Holding answer received on 19 November 2018



MoJ funding for youth offending services is delivered through the Youth Justice Board Good Practice Grant. The changes in funding in real terms were as follows: In the year beginning 2010: 165 millionIn the year beginning 2011: 133 millionIn the year beginning 2012: 118 millionIn the year beginning 2013: 99 millionIn the year beginning 2014: 98 millionIn the year beginning 2015: 80 millionIn the year beginning 2016: 74 millionIn the year beginning 2017: 73 millionIn the year beginning 2018: 72 million These reductions were made in the context of wider savings made across the department. The MoJ is committed to ensuring there is sufficient funding for Youth Offending Teams whilst also ensuring public money is managed appropriately. YOTs continue to carry out vital work to support young people through the justice system and prevent them from entering it in the first place. The number of first time entrants to the youth justice system has fallen by 86% between 2007/08 and 2017/18, and by 14% between 2016/17 and 2017/18.

Legal Aid Scheme: Domestic Violence

Dawn Butler: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the effect of charging victims of domestic violence up to £175 for a medical letter to prove they were abused on the ability of victims to access legal aid.

Lucy Frazer: We are aware that some GPs have been charging to provide letters as evidence of domestic abuse to support legal aid applications. Charges for services provided by GPs are set through the contractual relationship between GPs and the NHS. This practice is unacceptable. GPs are charging people at their most vulnerable and we are working with the Department of Health and Social Care to identify what more we could do to help victims of domestic abuse access the help they need. This important issue has been put forward as part of the GP contract negotiations for 2019-20. Whilst the content of those negotiations is not discussed publicly until an agreement has been reached, the Government is committed to dealing with this issue, through this process.

Prisoners: Childbirth

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many women have given birth in prison in each year since 2015; and what proportion of those women had an appropriately trained medical professional present at the birth.

Edward Argar: Holding answer received on 19 November 2018



The information is not centrally held and could obtained only at disproportionate cost. However, all pregnant women in custody have an individual care and management plan that is communicated to all staff and all pregnant women are seen by a mid-wife at least fortnightly or as required.Healthcare in prisons is provided by trained medics and nurses, but we have also made training on dealing with pregnant women available to all prison officers.We know it is extremely rare for a woman to give birth in prison - because every step is taken to get them to hospital - but those unique cases are invariably down to the unpredictability of labour.

Personal Independence Payment: Appeals

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to speed up the process of appeals against personal independence payment assessments.

Lucy Frazer: It is important that appeals are heard as quickly as possible. The Ministry of Justice recognises that there are delays in the system and is in the process of recruiting extra judicial office holders to help deal with this. In the Social Security and Child Support (SSCS) jurisdiction, which is the part of the tribunal system which deals with personal independence payment appeals, 225 new medical members have already been appointed and 119 disability-qualified members have recently been recruited. The SSCS jurisdiction will also benefit from the fact that 250 fee-paid judges and 100 salaried judges are being recruited across tribunals more widely. In addition, we have recently launched a new digital service to enable speedier processing of appeals and provide a better service for all parties to the proceedings. Information on the new digital service can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-online-service-launched-for-pip-appeals

Criminal Cases Review Commission: Working Hours

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the average weekly working hours are of the commissioners at the Criminal Cases Review Commission; and how that figure has changed over the last 12 months.

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much commissioners on the Criminal Cases Review Commission are paid per annum.

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many commissioners on the Criminal Cases Review Commission (a) are qualified lawyers and (b) have experience in the criminal justice system.

Lucy Frazer: The remuneration paid to Commissioners of the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) in the year ending 31 March 2018 (as detailed in their 2017/18 Annual Report) is set out in the table below: CommissionersAnnual Remuneration £000Mr Richard Foster CBE50-55Mrs Liz Calderbank35-40Miss Rachel Ellis [from 28.10.17]10-15Mrs Jill Gramann [from 29.09.17]15-20Ms Celia Hughes60-65Mr Stephen Leach70-75Mrs Linda Lee [from 20.11.17]10-15Ms Alexandra Marks CBE35-40Dr Sharon Persaud75-80Ms Jennifer Portway [from 29.09.17]10-15Mr Andrew Rennison55-60Mr David James Smith90-95Mr Ranjit Sondhi [until 11.11.17]30-35Mr Robert Ward [from 29.09.17]10-15Further information on Commissioners’ remuneration can be found in the CCRC’s 2017 – 18 Annual Report, which is published on the CCRC website. https://ccrc.gov.uk/publications/corporate-publications/ The current weekly average hours worked by Commissioners is between 15-20, and varies according to business need. It is not uncommon for Commissioners to vary their work patterns according to business need and general availability of Commissioner resources. The weekly average has remained unchanged in the last 12 months. Six Commissioners are legally qualified and all CCRC Commissioners have experience in the criminal justice system.

Criminal Cases Review Commission: Public Appointments

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when new commissioners are planned to be appointed for the Criminal Case Review Commission to replace the commissioners whose terms have ended in October 2018.

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, who appoints commissioners to the Criminal Cases Review Commission; and what criteria are used used to select those commissioners.

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, who appoints the Chair of the Criminal Cases Review Commission; and what the criteria are used to select that Chair.

Lucy Frazer: It is expected that the new Commissioners currently being recruited to the Criminal Cases Review Commission will be appointed by April 2019.Commissioners of the Criminal Cases Review Commission, including the Commission Chair, are appointed by Her Majesty the Queen on the recommendation of the Prime Minister. The criteria used in the selection of the Chair is available at: https://publicappointments.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/appointment/commissioners-of-the-criminal-cases-review-commission-ccrc/The criteria used for the selection of Commissioners is available at: https://publicappointments.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/appointment/chair-of-the-criminal-cases-review-commission-ccrc/

Criminal Cases Review Commission

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 1 February 2018 to Question 125099, when the Government plans to publish the final report of its Tailored review of the Criminal Cases Review Commission.

Lucy Frazer: The Government is currently finalising the report on the Tailored Review of the Criminal Cases Review Commission which will include recommendations based on contributions to the review. The final report will be published in due course.

Fraud

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that a joined-up response is provided by all the agencies involved in tackling economic crime.

Lucy Frazer: The Ministry of Justice actively supports the work the Home Office lead to tackle Economic Crime, including by developing a specialist court facility in the City of London. The Lord Chancellor chairs the Criminal Justice Board which provides leadership to the overall criminal justice system, and has discussed Economic Crime with Ministerial colleagues to ensure the Criminal Justice System response is joined up and effective.

Hate Crime: Convictions

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the conviction rate is for hate crime in the most recent period for which figures are available.

Lucy Frazer: In 2017, the most recent year for which figures are available, 7,888 defendants were proceeded against where the principal offence was one of the specific racially or religiously aggravated offences. Of those proceeded against, 6,084 defendants (77%) were convicted. The conviction rate for other hate crime offences, where there is evidence of hostility or motivation against a person because of their perceived membership of a racial or religious group, or because of a perceived disability, sexual orientation or transgender identity are not separately recorded and could only be collected at disproportionate cost.

Taxis: Fares

Laura Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many successful prosecutions there were for passengers avoiding taxi fares in each year since 2010.

Lucy Frazer: It is not possible to identify from centrally held data the number of defendants successfully prosecuted for an offence of avoidance of taxi fares in each year since 2010, as there is no current specific offence for the avoidance of taxi fares. Any successful prosecutions under these circumstances would be dealt with for a broader offence under specific legislation, such as: any dishonest act obtaining services for which payment is required, with intent to avoid payment – Fraud Act 2006 (S.11), and making off without payment (Theft Act 1978 (S.3) but it is not possible to identify which offences involved avoidance of taxi fares from centrally held information.

Prisons: Crimes of Violence and Self-harm

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 9 November 2018 to Question 186964 on Prisons: Crimes of Violence and Self-harm, if he will place a copy of those tables in the Library.

Rory Stewart: I refer the Hon. Member to the Answer given to Question 186964, which now includes the tables requested.

Hunting: County Durham

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many cases have (a) gone to trial and (b) been successfully prosecuted for breaches of the Hunting Act 2004 in County Durham in each of the last five years.

Rory Stewart: The number of defendants(1) prosecuted and the outcomes of those prosecutions for offences under the Hunting Act 2004 in County Durham over the last five years can be found in the Court Outcomes by Police Force Area data tool in the following link:https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/733996/court-outcomes-by-pfa-2017-update.xlsx Select ‘Durham’ from ‘Police Force Area’.Select ‘121A Offences under Hunting Act 2004’ in Offence.For the number of prosecutions, filter ‘Court Type’ by ’02: Magistrates Court’.Filter by ‘outcomes’, or for the number of convictions remove filtering from ‘Court Type’, and select ’01: Convicted’ from ‘Convicted/Not Convicted’. These figures are provided on a principal offence basis. When a defendant has been prosecuted for two or more offences, the principal offence is the offence for which the heaviest penalty would be imposed. In addition, Police Force Area refers to the location where the defendant was dealt with, not where the offence was committed. (1)Figures are published by defendants prosecuted, rather than trials.

Personal Independence Payment: Appeals

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent assessment he has made of trends in the level of waiting times for personal independence payment appeals to be heard in (a) St. Helens, (b) Liverpool and (c) Wigan county courts; and if he will make a statement.

Lucy Frazer: Latest figures indicate that since PIP was introduced, 3.5 million decisions have been made up to June 2018, and of these 9% have been appealed and 4% have been overturned at tribunals. The volume of appeals against Personal Independence Payment (PIP) decisions has built up since it was introduced as a new benefit, incrementally over time, from 2013. Waiting times are monitored continually, and in response to recent increases, we have conducted a national recruitment exercise of judicial office-holders as a result of which, 225 new medical members and 119 disability-qualified members have been appointed to the First-tier Tribunal (Social Security and Child Support) (SSCS). Additionally, 250 fee-paid judges and 100 salaried judges are being recruited across tribunals more widely. Five of the newly-appointed fee paid judges, 29 medically qualified panel member and 14 disability qualified panel members have been deployed to sit at SSCS tribunal venues serving the St Helens, Wigan and Liverpool areas. In addition, we have recently launched a new digital service with the aim of enabling speedier processing of appeals and to provide a better service for all parties to the proceedings. This will increase capacity, helping to reduce waiting times for appellants. Information on the new digital service can be found at:https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-online-service-launched-for-pip-appealsWe are also taking forward initiatives with potential to increase the capacity and performance of the tribunal: for instance, introducing case management “triage” sessions, with the aim of reducing the time taken for appeals to reach final determination. All these measures will increase the capacity of the tribunal, with the aim of reducing waiting times for appellants.

Private Rented Housing: Repossession Orders

Kevin Hollinrake: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the (a) median and (b) mean times were for private landlords to progress from a claim to possession of a property by a county court bailiff for the most recent period for which figures are available (i) across England and (ii) by each court circuit.

Lucy Frazer: The average time taken from issue to repossession (in weeks) in private landlord possession cases in the county court is provided in the table below.  LondonMidlandsNorth EastNorth WestSouth EastSouth WestEngland MeanMedMeanMedMeanMedMeanMedMeanMedMeanMedMeanMed201324.017.723.616.726.614.727.515.123.214.720.613.424.016.3201424.318.325.317.919.714.326.815.421.014.323.014.123.416.6201524.417.923.116.124.614.319.715.020.814.116.013.122.215.9201629.518.723.616.025.014.319.014.419.914.019.013.324.216.0201725.019.021.416.120.014.321.114.720.514.618.113.722.016.1

Treasury

Insurance: EU Countries

Layla Moran: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether (a) he and (b) the Financial Conduct Authority plan to investigate the alleged unlicensed selling of insurance products in EU countries to UK investors by UK companies using Isle of Man subsidiaries.

John Glen: Under EU rules, it is the responsibility of the regulator in the country where the insurance product is purchased to monitor its insurance market for unauthorised products. The FCA has powers to act if a firm is conducting a regulated activity in the UK without the required permission. The Government is confident in the FCA’s ability to monitor the UK insurance market and protect people who buy insurance products in the UK.

Financial Services: Isle of Man

Layla Moran: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will hold discussions with his Isle of Man counterpart on strengthening consumer rights and protections for UK investors who purchase (a) insurance and (b) other financial products in the (i) UK and (ii) EU from companies based in that jurisdiction; and if he will make a statement.

John Glen: The consumer rights and protections that apply to UK consumers who purchase financial products from third countries, including the Isle of Man, will depend on the type of financial product and the relevant third country’s financial services regime. Under EU rules, it is the responsibility of the regulator in the country where the insurance product is purchased to monitor its insurance market. In the UK, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has powers to act if a firm is conducting a regulated activity without the required permission. The Government is confident in the FCA’s ability to monitor the UK insurance market and protect consumers who buy insurance products in the UK. In relation to other financial products, third country investment funds wishing to market to retail consumers in the UK are assessed on a case-by-case basis by the FCA to ensure they offer adequate protection to consumers.

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government

Veterans: Loneliness

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to page 17 paragraph 1 of the HM Government publication, The strategy for our veterans, published in November 2018, what steps he is taking to enable veterans to build healthy relationships and integrate into their communities; and what amount of funding he has allocated to that 2028 outcome.

Mrs Heather Wheeler: The UK Government published the Strategy for our Veterans and a Consultation Paper on 14 November, which were debated in both Houses on 15 November. The Consultation Paper seeks public views to inform how the Government will implement the strategy. Following conclusion of the consultation period in February 2019, implementation and any relevant funding plans will be developed.

Veterans: Housing

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to page 18 paragraph 5 of HM Government publication, The Strategy For Our Veterans, published in November 2018, what steps he is taking to ensure that veterans have a secure place to live either through buying, renting or social housing; and what amount of funding he has allocated to the 2028 outcome.

Mrs Heather Wheeler: Since 2010, the Government has introduced a number of measures to ensure that serving and ex-service personnel receive priority for housing help which has included improving access to social housing and ensuring they retain priority for government-funded shared ownership schemes.The Veterans Strategy builds on existing work across the public, private and charitable sector and sets out an enduring Vision and Principles for support to Veterans across the UK. The UK Government Consultation Paper seeks public views to inform how Government implements the Strategy. Following conclusion of the consultation period in February 2019, implementation and any relevant funding plans will be developed.

Planning Permission

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what plans his Department has to ensure that proposed new permitted development rights do not undermine local affordable housing targets.

Kit Malthouse: National permitted development rights make an important contribution to housing delivery, with over 32,000 homes delivered under such rights in the two years to March 2018. Our consultation Planning Reform: Supporting the high street and increasing the delivery of new homes, launched on 29 October, invites views on the feasibility of securing developer contributions towards affordable housing should we bring forward proposals for a right to allow the demolition of commercial buildings and replacement build as residential.

Buildings: Insulation

Mr Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 8 November 2018 to Question 186415 on Buildings: Insulation, what assessment his Department has made of the risk posed by non-ACM building materials on the external walls of buildings.

Kit Malthouse: In consultation with the Independent Expert Advisory Panel, The Government has also provided advice to building owners about common non-Aluminium Cladding Material (ACM) external wall systems, including ones using Metal Composite Materials, High Pressure Laminates (HPL) or External Wall Insulation (EWI) with a render or brick-slip finish.We expect building owners to be systematically reviewing the safety of their buildings as a matter of course. We have given building owners clear advice about the steps that should be followed to remediate combustible non-ACM cladding for the longer term. Advice relating to cladding is under constant review and consideration by the Expert Panel which was set up following the Grenfell Tower fire. The Government has also commissioned further research to support further understanding in the industry of the fire performance of external wall systems.

Buildings: Insulation

Mr Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 8 November 2018 to Question 186415 on Buildings: Insulation, what assessment his Department has made of the ability of high-rise building owners to identify combustible insulation and cladding other than ACM cladding on their external walls.

Kit Malthouse: We expect building owners to be systematically reviewing the safety of their buildings as a matter of course. We have given building owners clear advice about the steps that should be followed to remediate combustible non-Aluminium Cladding Material cladding for the longer term. Where building owners are not able to identify the material used on the external wall of their building, or there is doubt, we have advised they seek professional advice and have provided guidance on how to obtain it.

Mental Illness: Advocacy

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether he has made a recent assessment of the effectiveness with which local authorities undertake their duty to provide independent advocacy services to people subject to the Mental Health Act 1983; and if he will make a statement.

Rishi Sunak: Under the Mental Health Act 1983, and as set out in the Code of Practice , local authorities have a duty to ensure timely access to appropriately trained independent mental health advocates and ensure that patients are informed of the support that an advocate can provide. I have not assessed the effectiveness with which local authorities provide independent advocacy services; policy responsibility for the Mental Health Act 1983 and for the provision of independent mental health advocates lies with the Department of Health and Social Care.

UK Shared Prosperity Fund: Wales

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what discussions his Department has had with (a) the Wales Office and (b) the Welsh Government on the level of funding from the European Regional Development Fund and the European Social Fund in Wales that the Shared Prosperity Fund is intended to replace.

Jake Berry: As we committed to in the written ministerial statement of 24 July 2018 (HCWS927), we have begun engagement with devolved administrations, including the Welsh Government, ahead of the public consultation, intended for later this year. This engagement began in September 2018 when HM Government officials held initial meetings with their counterparts in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Wider engagement with external stakeholders across the UK is ongoing.We intend to consult on the design of the United Kingdom Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) later this year and encourage all interested parties to contribute their views. Final decisions on the detail and operation of the UKSPF will be made following the Spending Review in 2019.In the meantime, we understand places around the UK require certainty of funding after we leave the European Union. We are confident that a negotiated agreement will be reached and that we will continue to take part in the 2014-2020 EU programmes until they end. At the same time, all Brexit scenarios are being planned for, including a no-deal.The Government’s announcement to extend the guarantee for the full EU 2014-20 programme period and allocation, provides certainty and clarity in the event of a no-deal and allows for a smooth transition to a domestic replacement.

Ministry of Defence

Devonport Dockyard: Construction

John Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 13 September 2017 to Question 8867 on Devonport Dockyard, what progress he is making on  the construction of a dry dock at Devonport for the Astute class submarine.

Stuart Andrew: The Ministry of Defence continues to undertake work to define the future infrastructure requirements to support the Astute Class at Devonport.

Armed Forces: Food

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what progress has been made on reviewing his Department's policy on redistributing surplus ration packs to people who are homeless.

Stuart Andrew: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my hon. Friend the Minister for Defence People and Veterans (Mr Ellwood) on 11 October 2018 to Question 175981.



Armed Forces: Food
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Submarine Delivery Agency: Disclosure of Information

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to ensure that the Submarine Delivery Agency improves transparency of performance reporting from suppliers.

Stuart Andrew: The Submarine Delivery Agency works closely with all its suppliers to increase confidence that they will be able to deliver to time and cost. This includes provision for regular progress reports. The Ministry of Defence is also rolling out a Strategic Supplier Management Programme that works with customers across Defence to understand the level of performance across strategic suppliers' portfolios.

Ministry of Defence: Babcock International

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the value is of the contract between his Department and Babcock to support the (a) Jackal, (b) Coyote, (c) Mastiff, (d) Ridgeback, (e) Wolfhound, and (f) Husky fleets provided via the Babcock Service Provision Contracts (SPC).

Stuart Andrew: The total contract value to provide support to the Jackal, Coyote, Mastiff, Ridgback, Wolfhound and Husky fleets through the Service Provision and Transformation Contract with Babcock is £59.26 million. In addition to the vehicles listed, this value includes support to the Foxhound fleet.

Minesweepers: Sonar

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the timetable is to refit Sandown-class minehunters with the Thales 2093 Wideband sonar system.

Stuart Andrew: The Sandown-Class Minehunters are currently undergoing a technical refresh programme, which will update the seven platforms with the Thales 2093 Sonar. The capability upgrade for the First of Class was successfully completed in September 2018. Future capability upgrades are aligned with individual ship's upkeep programmes.

HMS Swiftsure: Decommissioning

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what progress has been made on the removal of low-level nuclear waste from the decommissioned Royal Navy nuclear-powered attack submarine ex-HMS Swiftsure. .

Stuart Andrew: The scheduled undocking of Swiftsure on 27 August 2018 marked the successful completion of Stage 1 of the initial dismantling process with the removal of over 50 tonnes of low level radioactive waste on time and within budget. Planning for the next stage continues.

Armed Forces: Drugs

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of his Department's spend on each of the following pharmaceuticals for service personnel (a) Cerezyme Infusion 400u VL, (b) Chenodeoxycholic Acid Capsules 250mg, (c) Orfadin Capsules 10mg, (d) Kalydeco Tablets 150mg, (e) Sovaldi Tablets 400mg, (f) Trientine Dihydroch Capsules 300mg, (g) Glivec Tablets 400mg, (h) Imatinib Tablets Mesil tablets 400mg, (I) Glivec Tablets 100mg and (j) Stelara Injection 45mg/0.5ml.

Stuart Andrew: During the last four financial years (2014-15 to 2017-18) the Ministry of Defence purchased Glivec Tablets 400mg and Stelara Injection 45mg/0.5ml at a cost of £3,208 and £2,147 respectively.

Defence: Procurement

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the (a) roles and (b) responsibilities are of his Department's Cost Assurance and Analysis Service.

Stuart Andrew: The Cost Assurance and Analysis Service (CAAS) provides a range of independent cost management services across the Ministry of Defence (MOD) linking in through the acquisition system. CAAS also provides financial assurance to the MOD Director General Finance.

Afghanistan: Peacekeeping Operations

Adam Holloway: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many British Army soldiers died in Operation Herrick.

Mark Lancaster: 364 British Army personnel died as a result of injuries and illnesses sustained on Operation Herrick. 36 were Officers and 328 were Other Rank soldiers.These figures are official statistics provided by Defence Statistics.

Army: Young People

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 15 November 2018 to Question 190539 on Army: Young People, for what were the reasons for under-18s applicants not starting basic training in each of the three years for which information is provided.

Mark Lancaster: The reasons why a number of under 18 applicants do not progress to commence basic training are similar to applicants of all ages. These include the applicant's personal choice, which can be driven by a range of factors such as personal circumstances and alternative employment opportunities, and applicants not meeting the Army's entry criteria, for example medical and educational standards and nationality requirements.

EU Countries: Armed Forces

Mr Peter Bone: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of the proposal by President Macron to create a European army.

Mr Peter Bone: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether the UK would allow British service personnel to become part of a European army in the event that such an army is established.

Mark Lancaster: The creation of a European Army has never formally been proposed at European Union (EU) level and we do not believe that it would receive widespread support. The UK, along with other EU member states, has been clear that it will not support any measure that competes with NATO, or undermines member states' sovereign control of their own military.

Armed Forces

Mr Peter Bone: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of the draft withdrawal agreement for the UK leaving the EU on the UK's armed forces.

Mark Lancaster: The Government is undertaking a wide range of continuing analysis in support of our EU exit negotiations and preparations. We will ensure that Parliament is presented with appropriate analysis ahead of the vote on the final deal, and in Impact Assessments accompanying legislation, where appropriate.

Department for Work and Pensions

Personal Independence Payment: Multiple Sclerosis

Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of people with multiple sclerosis in Newcastle upon Tyne North are no longer eligible for the higher rate of mobility support as a result of the transition from disability living allowance to personal independence payments (PIP) in each year since PIP was introduced.

Sarah Newton: Holding answer received on 19 November 2018



The table below shows the number and percentage of DLA (Disability Living Allowance) higher mobility award claimants with Multiple Sclerosis in the Newcastle upon Tyne North constituency by year of reassessment to Personal Independence Payment (PIP) and PIP mobility award level. Table 1: Number and percentage of DLA higher mobility award claimants with Multiple Sclerosis in the Newcastle upon Tyne North constituency by year of reassessment to PIP and PIP mobility award level.-Nil or Standard PIP MobilityPIP Enhanced MobilityTotal2015###201610 (50%)10 (50%)202017 (to October 31st)10 (50%)10 (50%)20  Notes:Data is based on primary disabling condition as recorded on the DLA computer system. Claimants may often have multiple disabling conditions upon which the decision is based but only the primary condition is shown in these statistics.A reassessment claimant may have different main disabling conditions recorded on the DLA and PIP systems. Claimants who were recorded as terminally ill on the DLA system are not included in the above statistics.Figures include reassessment outcomes for individuals who were aged between 16 and 64 on 8th April 2013, and include both PIP Normal Rules and Special Rules for the Terminally Ill claims.A claimant’s DLA award of higher mobility rate is at the time of their PIP reassessment registration.PIP award is prior to any mandatory reconsideration or Appeal action.This is unpublished data. It should be used with caution and it may be subject to future revision.Data is taken from the PIP and DLA computer system’s management information.Data is to 31st October 2017 and excludes DLA claimants who did not respond to their PIP invitation.Figures have been rounded to the nearest 10 and percentages have been rounded to the nearest 1%. “#” indicates a number greater than or equal to 1 but less than 5.Figures are for Great Britain only.

Access to Work Programme

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much was spent on the Access to Work programme in each of the last 10 years.

Sarah Newton: The amount spent on the Access to Work programme in the last ten financial years as detailed below: 2008/09 £81.2m2009/10 £98.0m2010/11 £107.1m2011/12 £93.0m2012/13 £95.3m2013/14 £107.9m2014/15 £97.0m2015/16 £96.5m2016/17 £103.8m2017/18 £110.8m Totals are to the nearest £0.1m.

Personal Independence Payment: Medical Examinations

Helen Whately: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate her Department has made of the number of personal independence payment assessments that have been video-recorded in the latest period for which figures are available.

Sarah Newton: There is currently no option available for Personal Independence Payment claimants to have their assessments video recorded. However, as part of our commitment to improve the Personal Independence Payment assessment process, we are progressing options to video record PIP face to face assessments. Following comprehensive work over the summer, we are designing a live pilot, due to begin later this year. The pilot will inform any wider full roll out decisions.

Social Security Benefits: Telephone Services

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many members of staff directly employed by her Department or contracted to work for her Department have been available to answer incoming calls to each benefit telephone line in each of the last 18 months for which data are available.

Alok Sharma: A large proportion of our staff are multi-skilled to answer the phone and process claims, and therefore we do not capture the data requested. The information we do hold is as follows:Across all business groups each day we are likely to have 5,000 - 7,500 DWP staff and contractors actively on the phones delivering customer service. We retain the flexibility to adjust the number of colleagues working on some of the core functions to accommodate fluctuations in demand.

Winter Fuel Payments: Northern Ireland

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of the number of households in Northern Ireland that will receive the winter fuel payment in 2018-19.

Guy Opperman: The Department for Work and Pensions does not hold this information. Winter Fuel Payments in Northern Ireland are the responsibility of the Department for Communities.

Personal Independence Payment: Parkinson's Disease

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people with Parkinson’s who were awarded 10 points or lower for the moving around activity of personal independence payment were previously in receipt of the highest rate of the mobility component of disability living allowance.

Sarah Newton: The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.

Work Capability Assessment

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of claimants undergoing work capability assessments have had their assessments audio-recorded since 2012.

Sarah Newton: The information requested is not available.

Universal Credit: Self-employed

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to ensure that the calculation of universal credit for self-employed people (a) accurately reflects (i) the amount that they allocate to expenses to maintain their business and (ii) their take-home earnings and (b) leaves those people in a better financial position as a result of being in work.

Alok Sharma: Claimants with earnings from self-employment are required to report them to DWP on a monthly basis. These earnings are reported on a simplified 'cash accounting' basis, which asks for the total income from receipts into the business and details of payments out of the business under defined categories during the assessment period. We assess net earnings after deducting business expenses. The requirements were designed to be as simple as possible in order for self-employed claimants to easily report their earnings and monthly reporting allows Universal Credit to be adjusted on a monthly basis. Where claimants are in the 12-month grace period or are gainfully self-employed and earning above the Minimum Income Floor (MIF), the single taper rate acts to ensure that they are better off working and earning more under Universal Credit, removing the cliff edges from the old legacy benefits system.We announced at Autumn Budget 2018 that all new gainfully self-employed claimants can, from September 2020, access a 12-month exemption period from the MIF. This change will assist all gainfully self-employed claimants to grow their earnings, prepare and adjust for the application of the MIF. In 2022/23 it will allow 130,000 self-employed people the space to grow a successful business when moving on to Universal Credit.

Access to Work Programme

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much the Government spent on Access to Work in the last year for which figures are available; and of that amount how much was spent on (a) equipment and (b) services.

Sarah Newton: The latest Access to Work statistics were published on 30th October 2018 and can be found on the gov.uk website. Table 12 provides a breakdown of the requested information: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/access-to-work-statistics-april-2007-to-march-2018

Access to Work Programme

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of (a) the extent of employer compliance and (b) how long it takes employers to comply with the recommendations made by Access to Work.

Sarah Newton: Access to Work advisers will engage with employers from the receipt of an application for support and, if necessary, work with employers to obtain their buy in, ensuring they fully understand the benefits of the requested support. Access to Work does not measure the time taken to implement the agreed support. Access to Work is developing closer links with Disability Confident to improve employer engagement and awareness of the Access to Work scheme.

Access to Work Programme

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether equipment purchased under the Access to Work scheme belongs to (a) the employer, (b) the employee or (c) her Department; and if she will make a statement.

Sarah Newton: Equipment purchased with funds from the Access to Work scheme belong to the person or entity who made the purchase, which may be either the employer or the individual who requires support. As the equipment or support is disability specific to an individual, Access to Work advisers from the receipt of an application encourage employers to release the equipment with the individual if they move roles or to new employment.

Personal Independence Payment: Appeals

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the effect on the level of indebtedness of people in Warrington of waiting times for personal independence payment appeal hearings in local county courts.

Sarah Newton: Personal Independence Payment (PIP) is intended to act as a contribution towards the extra costs that arise as a result of a long-term health condition or disability. There are nine possible award outcomes and, where applicable, claimants continue to receive their award during the appeal process. Whilst it is acknowledged that waiting for an appeal to be heard can be stressful, equally it would be wrong to pay the benefit at a rate other than that which has already been determined within the law.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Tuna: Conservation

Scott Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has plans to apply to the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas for a quota for recreational catch and release game fishing of bluefin tuna after the UK leaves the EU.

George Eustice: The UK continues to support efforts by the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) to recover Atlantic Bluefin tuna stocks from historical overfishing. At this time, our priority remains ensuring their recovery to facilitate a fully sustainable fishery in future. However, after the UK has left the EU we will consider all the available evidence that may support the UK requesting access to the stock.

Natural England

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, for what reason the internal and external communications functions of Natural England have been moved into the centrally managed work of his Department; and if he will make a statement.

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, for what reason the human resource functions of Natural England have been moved into the centrally managed work of his Department; and if he will make a statement.

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, for what reason the financial management functions of Natural England have been moved into the centrally managed work of his Department; and if he will make a statement.

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 16th October 2018 to Question 176216 on Natural England: Staff, what assessment he has made of the effect of the transfer of roles in finance, communication, and human resources from Natural England to his Department on the independence of Natural England.

George Eustice: Corporate Services enable the Defra group to operate by providing critical IT systems, HR and finance support, property management, legal advice, and procurement and communications services. Historically, teams have been fragmented across the Defra group, with each delivery body running their own corporate services, working to different policies, processes and systems. Having recognised the cost of complexity from this way of working, we have integrated functional teams across the group in order to drive out inefficiency and improve support to the business. Through this approach we are on track to deliver £124m of savings over the Spending Review 2015 period. At the same time we expect corporate services teams to remain an integrated and integral part of the organisations they support through our business partner-led model.

Natural England

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made whether there are possible conflicts of interest arising from the Chair of Natural England sitting on the board of his Department.

George Eustice: The Chair of Natural England was invited to join the Defra board as an ex-officio member in August 2015. This was to facilitate more effective joint working across the Defra group, which is in line with current Cabinet Office guidance (paragraph 3.4). Any personal conflicts of interest are recorded on the Natural England register, and board members are required to state any relevant conflicts of interest during a standing item at the start of each board meeting.

Horse Racing: Animal Welfare

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate he has made of the number of racehorses (a) injured and (b) killed in the UK in each year for which information is available.

David Rutley: The British Horseracing Authority (BHA) publishes annual statistics of the number of horse fatalities at racecourses. These are shown in the table below and can also be found on their website. We do not have any estimates of the numbers of racehorses injured. 1994 2011201220132014201520162017Runners71,475 94,77690,51891,14686,45688,3778997591360Fatalities202 181211196189156171167Rate0.28% 0.19%0.23%0.22%0.22%0.18%0.190.18

Air Pollution: Children

Christine Jardine: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the outcomes of projects reducing children’s exposure to air pollution in each of the last three years.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: This is a devolved matter. In England, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs sets out the national policy framework for tackling harmful air pollution. Local measures, such as those aimed at reducing exposure around schools, are taken by local authorities to whom air quality actions are delegated. Whilst Defra has provided funding for local authorities through the Air Quality Grant, including for some schemes specifically aimed at schools, it is for local authorities to assess the outcomes of projects they run.

Game: Birds

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the mortality rate was for game bird farms in each year from 2010 to 2018.

David Rutley: The Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) do not hold information on the mortality rate for game bird farms in each year from 2010 to 2018. APHA do not maintain year on year statistics for game farms.

Game: Birds

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many game bird farms have more than (a) 20,000 and (b) 50,000 birds.

David Rutley: The Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) do not hold accurate or reliable figures on the number of birds on game bird premises. APHA do not maintain year on year statistics for game farms. At the time of registration the owner of the birds will normally supply APHA with an estimate of the usual numbers likely to be held on the holding.

Game: Birds

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will commission research comparing the welfare of caged game birds with those that are not caged.

David Rutley: Defra conducted research into gamebird welfare in different rearing systems. The 2010 to 2012 project AW1303 looked at whether cage-based breeding can meet the needs of gamebirds, and if not, to identify best practice. This research found that for pheasants and partridges, providing increased space does not necessarily equate with enhanced welfare. Prior to this, Defra’s advisory body, the Farm Animal Welfare Committee (FAWC), was tasked with considering all aspects of gamebird farming in order to inform future work in this area. This assessment included a range of traditional and more intensive methods of gamebird breeding and rearing, including: breeding partridges in cages; breeding pheasants in grass pens or raised cages; rearing partridges and pheasants in brooder huts with grass pens; and commercial broiler chicken-type sheds with outdoor runs. In 2008 FAWC published an Opinion on the Welfare of Farmed Gamebirds, and its recommendations fed into Defra’s current Code of Practice for the Welfare of Gamebirds Reared for Sporting Purposes:https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/69379/pb13356-game-birds-100720.pdf

Air Pollution: Pollution Control

Jeff Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he plans to include provisions for achieving World Health Organisation limits on (a) nitrogen dioxide, (b) PM2.5 and (c) PM10 emissions by 2030 in his forthcoming Environment Bill.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: We consulted on our Clean Air Strategy earlier this year, which set out our plans to reduce exposure to air pollution including fine particulate matter, and which signposts our intention to progressively move towards WHO guideline levels for PM2.5, committing to halve the population living in areas with concentrations of fine particulate matter above WHO guideline levels by 2025. This goes further than European Union requirements and we are the first industrialised nation to commit to progressively reducing fine particulate matter pollution in this way. Through our UK plan for tackling roadside nitrogen dioxide concentrations, we are working with local authorities to assist them in reducing exposure to nitrogen dioxide, and to bring these within agreed limits in the fastest possible time. WHO guidelines are very ambitious, which presents a particular challenge for all countries, particularly in large urban areas and some coastal areas. We will set out provisions to be included in the Environment Bill in due course. Our final Clean Air Strategy will be published shortly.

Air Pollution

Jeff Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the World Health Organisation conclusion that there is no safe level of PM2.5 or PM10.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: Particulate matter will always exist as long as we have sea salt, sand and other forms of dust. Particulate pollution is also blown over from neighbouring countries. We will continue to reduce public exposure to particulate matter from man-made sources in the environment as set out in our draft Clean Air Strategy. We consulted on a commitment to halve the population living in areas with concentrations of fine particulate matter above World Health Organisation (WHO) guideline levels by 2025. The WHO have commended our ambition; this goes further than European Union requirements and we are the first industrialised nation to commit to progressively reducing fine particulate matter pollution in this way. Our final Clean Air Strategy will be published shortly.

Home Office

Immigrants: EU Nationals

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the suitability criterion for Settled Status that the applicant must not be subject to a removal decision under the EEA Regulations on the grounds of their non-exercise or misuse of rights under Directive 2004/38/EC, whether his Department will check whether (a) each applicant for Settled Status is exercising their rights under Directive 2004/38/EC or (b) it is those subject to a removal decision before they make their application for Settled Status who will be refused on suitability grounds.

Caroline Nokes: The Statement of Intent on the EU Settlement Scheme published on 21 June 2018 made clear that the UK has decided, as a matter of domestic policy, to be more generous than the draft Withdrawal Agreement with the European Union in certain respects. In particular, those applying under the scheme will not generally be required to show that they are exercising their rights under the Free Movement Directive (2004/38/EC). This means that an applicant will not be refused status under the scheme because for example they are not economically active, their employment is not full-time or they do not hold comprehensive sickness insurance.However, the draft Withdrawal Agreement does not protect those who are not exercising or are misusing free movement rights. This means that, while free movement rules continue to operate to the end of the planned implementation period, there will remain scope, as a matter of law, for a person to be removed from the UK on those grounds. It is logical that this is reflected in the Immigration Rules for the EU Settlement Scheme.

Immigrants: EU Nationals

Marion Fellows: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether people who have been granted leave to land will have to apply for settled status once the UK leaves the EU.

Caroline Nokes: The Immigration Act 1971 provides that a person granted leave to land under earlier (repealed) legislation is treated for the purposes of the 1971 Act as having been granted leave to enter.Resident EU citizens and their family members with limited or indefinite leave to enter the UK will not need to apply for pre-settled or settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme once the UK has left the EU. They will be able to do so if they wish and there will be no application fee for settled status where an applicant has valid indefinite leave to enter.

Hunting: County Durham

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many cases of breaches of the Hunting Act 2004 were referred to the Crown Prosecution Service by Durham constabulary in each of the last five years.

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people have been arrested by Durham constabulary for breaches of the Hunting Act 2004 in each of the last five years.

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps he is taking to improve the (a) detection and (b) policing of illegal fox hunting activities in County Durham.

Mr Nick Hurd: The Home Office does not centrally collect information on offences under the Hunting Act 2004 and therefore the requested information on arrests and subsequent convictions is not held by the Home Office.The enforcement of the Hunting Act is an operational matter for the police. This is in line with their duties to keep the peace, protect communities and prevent the commission of offences, working within the provisions of the legal framework set by Parliament.It is for individual Chief Constables to determine how their resources are deployed and it is for locally elected Police and Crime Commissioners to hold their forces to account, including on how they tackle the crimes that matter most to residents and businesses in rural and urban areas alike.

Police: Pensions

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent discussions he has had with Police and Crime Commissioners on the effect on police budgets of additional pension costs.

Mr Nick Hurd: We are assessing the implications of changes to the public service pensions discount rate on police forces and are working with the police and the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners to determine how best to manage these impacts. The Budget made clear that part of these costs will be met from the Treasury Reserve in 2019/20.As the Chancellor set out in his speech, the Home Secretary will review police spending power ahead of the 2019/20 provisional police funding settlement which is expected to be published next month.

Immigrants: Detainees

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what progress he has made on the review commissioned by his Department earlier this year into the possible introduction of statutory time limits on immigration detention.

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what constitutes a reasonable period of time for a person to be detained at an immigration removal centre.

Caroline Nokes: The Home Office has been engaging with international partners on their policies and practices in relation to time limits in detention. The review remains ongoing and once complete, we will consider the next steps.For immigration detention to be lawful, there must be a realistic prospect of removal from the UK in a reasonable timescale. What is considered reasonable is fact-specific and will vary from case to case. It may be longer in cases involving foreign national offenders than in non-criminal cases, given the need to protect the public from harm by those whom we are seeking to deport. In all cases, detention is kept under regular review to ensure that it remains both necessary and appropriate.

Wales Office

Wales Office: Welsh Language

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, how much funding he allocated to Welsh lessons for staff in his Department in each of the last five years.

Nigel Adams: Funding for Welsh language learning forms part of the training budget for staff in the Office of the Secretary of State for Wales. The training budget in each of the last 5 years was £15,000 per annum.

Loneliness: Wales

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what steps he is taking to incorporate the Prime Minister's cross-governmental loneliness strategy into the policy-formulation and decision-making processes of his Department.

Nigel Adams: The strategy commits the UK Government to work with the devolved administrations to ensure that the work to implement the strategy is complementary and to share insights and learn from one another.

Church Commissioners

Christianity: Middle East

Henry Smith: To ask the Right Honourable Member for Meriden, representing the Church Commissioners, what discussions the Church Commissioners have had on maintaining the Christian community in the Middle East.

Dame Caroline Spelman: The Church of England continues to work alongside the Anglican Diocese of Jerusalem to support the Christian community in Jordan, Syria, Israel, Palestine and Lebanon. The Church also partners and engages with development and mission agencies working to support Christian communities overseas. Regular pilgrimage visits are made by parishes and dioceses of the Church of England, mainly to those holy sites that are not in conflict zones and which often involve meetings with local ChristiansWestminster Abbey will be holding a special service on the 4th December at which His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales will attend to offer encouragement to Christians throughout the region and to celebrate the contributions they make to their communitiesThe Archbishop of Canterbury made an official visit to Israel, Jordan and the Palestinian Territories in 2017, the primary purpose of which was to affirm the Christian community in the Holy Land, to identify and explore challenges relating to religious freedom and to give encouragement to St. George’s Cathedral in Jerusalem. The Archbishop also met with Israeli, Palestinian and Jordanian politicians during his visitDuring the November parliamentary recess I joined a small group of MPs on a regional visit to see for myself the challenges faced by the Christian community in Israel and the Palestinian Territories. We visited a number of projects that are funded or supported by the Anglican Church, including hospitals and schools. Speaking with the different communities gave a helpful perspective on the significant challenges to the daily lives and movements of people.

Cabinet Office

Government Departments: Cryptography

Jo Platt: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to page 51 of the National Cyber Security Strategy 2016 to 2021, what recent estimate he has made of the cost per annum to Government of procuring private sector cryptography skills and technologies.

Mr David Lidington: Due to national security reasons we cannot comment on the cost of procuring cryptography skills and technology to Government.

Infected Blood Inquiry

Ian Lavery: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether he plans to hold discussions with the devolved administrations on a UK-wide response to Sir Brian Langstaff's letter on the contaminated blood scandal.

Mr David Lidington: It is for the Department of Health and Social Care to consider the issue of financial support raised by Sir Brian Langstaff in his letter. The Minister for Mental Health, Inequalities and Suicide Prevention has expressed her willingness to meet the Inquiry team and other discussions may follow. The Inquiry’s focus is on events and circumstances within the United Kingdom. As such, I do not expect the UK’s exit from the EU to have any effect on the Inquiry’s work.

Infected Blood Inquiry

Ian Lavery: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the Government has made an assessment of the potential effect of the UK leaving the EU on how the Infected Blood Inquiry will be run.

Mr David Lidington: It is for the Department of Health and Social Care to consider the issue of financial support raised by Sir Brian Langstaff in his letter. The Minister for Mental Health, Inequalities and Suicide Prevention has expressed her willingness to meet the Inquiry team and other discussions may follow. The Inquiry’s focus is on events and circumstances within the United Kingdom. As such, I do not expect the UK’s exit from the EU to have any effect on the Inquiry’s work.

Cancer

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office,  what the five most common cancer diagnoses were among (a) men and (b) women in (i) 2007 and (ii) 2017.

Chloe Smith: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.



UKSA response 
(PDF Document, 83.32 KB)

Infected Blood Inquiry

Mr Paul Sweeney: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to his oral Answer of 14 November 2018, Official Report, column 298, on the Infected Blood Inquiry, whether his reference to compensation relates to acceptance of Government liability or ex-gratia payments.

Mr David Lidington: During Cabinet Office Oral Questions on Wednesday 14 November, in response to questions about the Infected Blood Inquiry from Member for Manchester, Withington Jess Smith MP and the Member for Kingston upon Hull North Diana Johnson MP, I used the word “compensation” to refer to the financial payments made to victims of infected blood. In doing so, I misspoke. I should instead have used the words “financial support”. I am sorry for any confusion this may have caused in the House. I am happy to make that clarification, and the record has been corrected to reflect this.

Young People: Urban Areas

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what recent estimate he has made of the number of young people moving from small towns and villages to large towns and cities; and what assessment he has made of the effect of that movement on the long-term sustainability of small towns and villages.

Chloe Smith: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.



UKSA Response
(PDF Document, 66.89 KB)

Unemployment: Young People

Stephen Timms: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what his most recent estimate is of the number of economically inactive young people.

Chloe Smith: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.



UKSA response 
(PDF Document, 68.34 KB)

Department for International Trade

Trade Agreements

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what discussions he has had with the governments of non-EU countries on (a) the draft withdrawal agreement for the UK leaving the EU and (b) the effect of that draft agreement on future trading relationships between the UK and such countries since that draft agreement was agreed by Cabinet.

George Hollingbery: Holding answer received on 21 November 2018



The Department for International Trade is talking to a number of countries on a variety of future trading options, exploring the best ways of progressing our trade and investment relationships, which could include new Free Trade Agreements (FTAs). The Prime Minister has been clear that after we leave the European Union, we will establish an independent trade policy. Upon leaving the EU, the UK will be able to negotiate, sign and ratify FTAs with rest of world partners.

Trade Agreements

Mike Amesbury: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what progress he has made on securing trade deals with third countries after the UK leaves the EU.

George Hollingbery: We continue to seek continuity of our existing free trade agreements as we leave the European Union. The Withdrawal Agreement states that during the implementation period, the UK is to be treated as a Member State for the purposes of international agreements, and this includes trade agreements. The Government is also preparing for an ambitious programme of trade negotiations and enhanced market access, including potentially opening a series of formal negotiations for new free trade agreements with the United States, Australia and New Zealand; and scoping possible UK accession to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP). We have completed 14-week long public consultations on each of these three potential future trade agreement negotiations and on the UK’s possible accession to the CPTPP. The Trade Bill will provide continuity by enabling the preservation of the UK’s current trade and investment relationships, while creating the necessary legal powers to ensure we are ready to operate independently when we exit the EU.

Department for International Trade: Overseas Workers

Ian Murray: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, pursuant to the Answer of 14 November 2018 to Question 189652 on Department for International Trade: Staff, how many of his Department's staff were employed in (a) non-EU countries, (b) EU countries, (c) Greece and (d) Italy in each of the last three years.

George Hollingbery: The number of employees of the Department for International Trade in each of the last three years is shown in the table below.  31 October 201631 October 201731 October 2018a) Non-EU Countries9521,1061,071b) EU Countries1,2361,8812,156c) Greece554d) Italy212522 The table above includes all DIT employees who are paid via DIT payroll, UKEF employees paid via the UKEF payroll and staff who are working overseas and paid via the FCO payroll and then recharged to DIT at each of the reference dates. The number of employees included in the totals for EU Countries includes those based in the UK, Greece and Italy.

Trade Agreements: USA

Hywel Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what progress he has made on securing a trade agreement with the US.

Hywel Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what his timetable is for agreeing a trade deal with the US.

Hywel Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, on what dates the UK-US trade and investment working group has met.

George Hollingbery: The United Kingdom cannot sign or negotiate trade agreements whilst still a member of the European Union, which we are until 29 March 2019.   In July 2017 my Rt Hon. Friend the Secretary of State for International Trade launched the UK-US Trade and Investment Working Group which has since met on five occasions on the following dates: 24-25 July 2017, 13-14 November 2017, 21-22 March 2018, 10-11 July 2018 and 2-7 November 2018.   The working group’s aim is to provide commercial continuity for US and UK businesses, workers, and consumers as the UK leaves the EU and explore ways to strengthen trade and investment ties ahead of the exit. The group is also laying the groundwork to ensure that both sides are well prepared to open trade negotiations after the UK leaves the EU in 2019.   Our 14-week long public consultations on potential future trade agreements with the United States, Australia and New Zealand and on the UK’s potential accession to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) closed on 26 October.

UK-US Trade and Investment Working Group

Hywel Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, who the members are of the UK-US trade and investment working group.

George Hollingbery: In July 2017 my Rt Hon. Friend the Secretary of State for International Trade and the United States Trade Representative, Robert Lighthizer, jointly launched the UK-US Trade and Investment Working Group which has since met on five occasions. The Trade and Investment Working Group delegations have been led by officials from the Department for International Trade and the Office of the United States Trade Representative. They have also included representatives from a wide range of UK and US Government departments and agencies.

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport

Gambling

Sir David Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what recent steps his Department has taken to support people with a gambling addiction.

Mims Davies: We published the Review of Gambling Machines and Social Responsibility Measures in May. This set out measures to strengthen protections around gaming machines, including cutting the maximum stake on B2 machine from £100 to £2, online gambling, and gambling advertising. It also set out action on treatment and support for those who experience harm, including initiatives to improve the evidence on treatment needs and effectiveness, expand access to existing services and strengthen the voluntary system for funding support. Government has also encouraged industry to increase its funding for third sector initiatives to support people with a gambling addiction. GambleAware, an independent charity, commissions treatment services, including the National Gambling Helpline and counselling services, specialist treatment delivered by the NHS National Problem Gambling Clinic and the Gordon Moody Association. GambleAware aims to triple access to its treatment services across the country and recently announced the establishment of a further specialist NHS clinic and Problem Gambling Support team in Leeds.As demonstrated by the report Gambling Behaviour in Great Britain 2016, which is based on the combined Health Surveys, there is an association between mental health and problem or risky gambling behaviour. Some problem gamblers will therefore access support through services for other addictions and mental health conditions. The National Institute for Care and Health Excellence (NICE) has been commissioned to explore developing a guideline on non-chemical addictions, including gambling, which would give support to clinicians seeking to support problem gamblers.

Sports: Children

Ben Bradley: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps he is taking to encourage children under the age of 16 to participate in extracurricular sport.

Mims Davies: Government’s Sporting Future strategy set out how important it is for all children to have a good experience of sport and physical activity while they are young. Sport England supports children and young people in England by ensuring there is a good sports and activity offer before and after the school day. Sport England has committed up to £194 million of investment into children and young people over the next four years, which includes the Families Fund: up to £40 million invested in projects that offer new opportunities for families with children to be active together. Sport England will also provide specialist training to at least two teachers in every secondary school in England by 2020, and will invest £28m into Satellite Clubs between 2017-2021. DCMS are working closely with the Department for Education and the Department of Health and Social Care on a new School Sport and Activity Action plan, which will be published in Spring 2019. The plan will consider ways to ensure that all children have access to quality, protected PE and sport sessions during the school week and opportunities to be physically active throughout the school day.

Heritage Lottery Fund: East Midlands

Ben Bradley: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how much funding the Heritage Lottery Fund has spent in the East Midlands in each year since 2015.

Michael Ellis: The Heritage Lottery Fund has given a total of £88,381,100 to 342 projects in the East Midlands since 2015. This breaks down as per the following table:  Row LabelsProjects awardedGrant awarded2015-16115£53,385,1002016-17118£20,078,2002017-18109£14,917,800   Grand Total342£88,381,100

Information Commissioner: Codes of Practice

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of the Information Commissioner's proposed code of practice to protect democratic institutions in the United Kingdom.

Margot James: We take the protection of personal data and the right to privacy extremely seriously. It is essential that people are confident their personal data will be protected and used in an appropriate way. Political parties and other organisations involved in political campaigning must comply with the General Data Protection Regulation and the Data Protection Act 2018. We have been considering the Information Commissioner's recommendations for a statutory code of practice in relation to such activities and will respond formally in due course.

House of Commons Commission

House of Commons: Bullying

Justin Madders: To ask the right hon. Member for Carshalton and Wallington, representing the House of Commons Commission, how many live investigations there are under the Independent Complaints and Grievance scheme against members of House staff that relate to allegations made after July 2017.

Tom Brake: As at 30 September 2018, the total number of live investigations undertaken by the Independent Investigation Services was fewer than five (the actual number has been withheld to reduce chances of individuals being identified). This relates to all potential respondents under the Scheme including complaints against members of House staff.

House of Commons: Bullying

Justin Madders: To ask the right hon. Member for Carshalton and Wallington, representing the House of Commons Commission, how many live investigations there are under the Independent Complaints and Grievance scheme against hon Members that relate to allegations made after July 2017.

Tom Brake: As at 30 September 2018, the total number of live investigations undertaken by the Independent Investigation Services was fewer than five (the actual number has been withheld to reduce chances of individuals being identified). This relates to all potential respondents under the Scheme including complaints against hon. Members.

House of Commons: Bullying

Justin Madders: To ask the right hon. Member for Carshalton and Wallington, representing the House of Commons Commission, how many investigations have been completed following complaints under the Independent Complaints and grievance scheme against members of House staff that relate to allegations after July 2017.

Tom Brake: As at 30 September 2018, the total number of completed investigations undertaken by the Independent Investigation Services was fewer than five (the actual number has been withheld to reduce chances of individuals being identified). This relates to all potential respondents under the Scheme including complaints against members of House staff.

House of Commons: Bullying

Justin Madders: To ask the right hon. Member for Carshalton and Wallington, representing the House of Commons Commission, how many investigations have been completed following complaints under the Independent Complaints and grievance scheme against hon Members that relate to allegations after July 2017.

Tom Brake: As at 30 September 2018, the total number of completed investigations undertaken by the Independent Investigation Services was fewer than five (the actual number has been withheld to reduce chances of individuals being identified). This relates to all potential respondents under the Scheme including complaints against hon. Members.

Women and Equalities

Females: Candidates

Jim Shannon: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, if her Department will take steps to help hold events in Northern Ireland to mark the 100th anniversary of women being allowed to stand for Parliament.

Victoria Atkins: It is for the devolved administrations to decide whether, and how, they choose to mark the centenary.The Northern Ireland Executive was provided £171,000. In the absence of Ministerial authority for grants to local groups, the civil service arranged a lecture series, a commemorative album as well as a number of exhibitions and workshops.

Equal Pay

Jim Shannon: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what steps she is taking to close the gender pay gap.

Victoria Atkins: Under new government legislation over 10,000 employers reported their gender pay gaps this year. These regulations increase transparency, driving board level discussions and pushing employers to take real action to close the gap.We are now working with employers to help them understand their gender pay gaps, and support them to put plans in place to tackle gaps.Mandatory gender pay gap reporting is just one of the steps government has taken to tackle the drivers of the gap including:introducing Shared Parental Leave and Pay and running a £1.5 million campaign to promote the scheme to eligible parents.extending the right to request flexible working and establishing a taskforce working with business to make flexible working a reality for all employees.creating a £5 million fund to support women and men who have been out of the labour market for a long period to return to work.spending around £6 billion on childcare support by 2019-20, around £3.5 billion of which is planned to be spent on free early education entitlements.